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O'er  Oceans  and  Continents 

WITH    THE    SETTING    SUN 

V25-fi_'Q''^V 
If 


BY 


FISCAR  MARISON 


SECOND  SERIES 

PROM  MANILA  TO  SINGAPORE,  RANGOON,  CALCUTTA, 

BENARES,  BOMBAY,  GOA,  CAIRO  AND 

PALESTINE 


t    i    Published  by  th*  Author 
\        * 


CHICAGO 
AUTHOR'S  EDITION 

A 


COPYRIGHT,  1906 
BY  GEO.  J.  BLATTER 

All  Rights  Reserved 


M.  A.  DONOHUE  *  CO. 
PEINTEE9,  BINDERS, 
PUBLISHERS,  CHICAGO 


(La  mg  JFrtetiiB  and  ArquaUttattrt  0. 

mho  ICirt&lg  Drmrrfi  yitrthrr  |Tai  Itrulat  a  of  my  3ituritt c. 

I^i0  ^rrnttfi  ^rrirs  is  Sr nprrlfitl!  11  Srhtratrh  hit 

elic  Authur. 

CHICAOO.    FEBRUARY.    1908. 


CONTENTS  OF  SERIES  II 

PAGI 

PREFACE       i 

EN  ROUTE  TO  SINGAPORE             ,  3 

YOHORE  AND  BURMAH  .....  15 

AN  EXCURSION  TO  THONZE  AND  NATIVE  LIFE  31 

SOME  ACQUAINTANCES  AND  SOME  DELAYS      .  41 

CALCUTTA,  THE  HIMALAYAS  AND  DARJEELING  53 

THE  GLEAMING  SNOWS  OF  EVEREST       .         .  65 

ON  THE  BRAHMAPUTRA  75 

STREET  LIFE  IN  CALCUTTA  ...  83 

AT  THE  CRADLE  OE  INDIAN  BUDDHISM.         .  91 

THE  SACRED  GANGES  AND  THE  BURNING  GHAT  101 

CAWNPORR,  AGRA  AND  THE  TAJ  MAHAL       .  112 

DELHI           .......  122 

BEAUTIFUL  BOMBAY 130 

FORT  BASSEIN  AND  THE  KENNERY  CAVES      .  139 

FAMINE  REFUGEES  IN  BOMBAY       .        .         .  147 

"  His  TOMB  SHALL  BE  GLORIOUS"        .         .  156 

ADIEU  TO  INDIA  ......  167 

THE  RED  SEA  AND  SUEZ       ....  177 

ALONG  THE  SUEZ  CANAL       .         .         ,        .  184 

THE  PYRAMIDS  AND  SPHINX  ....  191 

LEAVING  EGYPT  FOR  PALESTINE  .  aoi 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

WASHING  ELEPHANTS  ON  THE  BRAHMA- 
PUTRA  ......  Frontispiece 

ON  THE  PALITANA  AND  FILIPINO  BAND        .  6 

AT  WANETCHAUNG  AND  FAMINE  REFUGEES  .  38 

ON  THE  BRAHMAPUTRA        .         .         .  60 

CHAPEL,  DACCA  DIOCESE     ....  80 

HINDOO  DRY  GOODS  EMPORIUM    ...  88 

GRAIN  SELLERS,  BENGAL      ....  92 

A  HINDOO  FRUIT  STORE,  BENARES       .         .  104 
NIRWANA'S  STAIRS,  BENARES,  AND  MOSLEMS 

OF  INDIA        .        .         .         .         .         .  108 

GRINDING  FLOUR          .        .         .        .        .116 

MALAY  WATER  CARRIER       ....  126 

BARI  BUNDER,  BOMBAY         ....  132 

POONA  STREET  SCENE  AND  CAVE  TEMPLE     .  152 

SUEZ    ........  182 

SCHOOL  IN  CAIRO 188 

AT  THE  PYRAMIDS        .                 ...  196 

CAIRO  AND  THE  CITADEL  MOSQUE        .        .  202 

THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN'S  REST,  CAIRO    .         .  206 


PREFACE. 

The  cordial  reception  met  by  the  "  First  Series ' '  of 
"O'er  Oceans  and  Continents,"  and  frequent  requests  for 
a  continuance  of  the  narrative,  have  finally  prevailed 
upon  the  author  to  publish  this  "  Second  Series. ' '  While 
the  first  contained  an  account  of  the  journey  from 
Chicago  to  Manila,  the  second  describes  the  incidents 
of  the  journey  from  Manila  to  Palestine. 

Though  the  author  is  sincerely  thankful  for  past  or 
future  kindness  shown  to  him  in  regard  to  these  books, 
he  begs  to  state,  that  he  is  not  looking  for  private  financial 
gain.  The  proceeds  are  intended  to  defray  the  publica- 
tion of  an  English  translation  of  "  Ciudad  de  Dios, ' '  a 
most  remarkable  Spanish  work  peculiarly  suited  to  our 
times.  It  is  an  extensive  work,  detailing  in  a  wonderful 
and  authoritative  manner  the  life  of  the  ever-Blessed 
Virgin  Mary.  If  ever  human  words  or  writings  have 
succeeded  in  placing  before  the  mind  of  man  the 
heavenly  charms  and  beauties  of  undefiled  woman- 
hood, "  Ciudad  de  Dios "  has  done  it.  Should  not 
such  praise  resound  also  in  English,  the  language  of 
half  the  world? 

At  the  same  time  the  English  translation  can  be  pub- 
lished only  at  considerable  cost,  for  which  there  is  no 
hope  of  immediate  financial  returns. 

i 


PREFACE. 

The  proceeds  of  "  D'er  Oceans  and  Continents"  will 
be  applied  toward  the  publication  of  "  Ciudad  de  Dios  " 
in  English. 

Therefore,  kind  reader,  for  once  let  the  end  justify  the 
means,  and  let  the  purpose  for  which  this  book  is  pub- 
lished cover  up  a  multitude  of  its  deficiencies.  This  is 
the  humble  request  of  THE  AUTHOR. 

February  1906. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ON  THE  SLEEPING  WAVES  TO  SINGAPORE  —  MOTLEY 
CROWDS  —  JARRING  STRIFE  —  UNEXPECTED  MEET- 
ING —  AN  EASTERN  PARADISE. 

The  Palitana,  an  English  steamer,  on  which  we  had 
embarked  at  Manila  for  Singapore,  moved  steadily  along 
over  the  glassy,  sunlit  ocean.  She  was  of  huge  dimen- 
sions, and  different  parts  of  her  deck  were  portioned  off 
for  four  different  kinds  of  passengers.  The  stern  was  oc- 
cupied by  a  few  first-class,  the  middle  with  its  promenade 
deck  and  cabins  by  the  second-class,  while  the  lower 
deck  between  these  two  was  reserved  for  the  third-class 
passengers,  who  were  mostly  Filipinos.  The  forward 
part,  nearly  one  third  of  the  whole  vessel,  had  no  upper 
deck,  and  this  portion  was  thickly  crowded  by  fourth- 
class  passengers,  a  motley  assemblage  of  ragged  and 
half-naked  Chinese,  Malays,  Japanese,  Hindoos,  Cin- 
galese, Burmese,  Laskars,  and  other  natives  of  Asia 
and  Oceanica.  The  Asiatics  are  great  travelers,  and 
always  manage  to  carry  along  with  them  what  seems 
their  whole  possession.  Pell-mell,  their  bundles  of  bed- 
ding, ragged  clothes,  articles  of  food,  rude  musical 
instruments,  arms,  rough  chests,  faggots  of  wood,  and 
other  worthless  baggage  littered  the  deck,  while  all 
available  space  between  these  articles  swarmed  with 

3 


OE'R  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

men,  women,  and  children  in  boundless  confusion. 
So  crowded  was  the  deck,  that  whole  groups  found  no 
deck- room  to  stand,  but  lay  stretched  out  upon  such  of 
the  baggage  as  in  any  way  permitted  it. 

Among  the  Filipinos  in  the  third  class  were  a  number 
of  musicians,  who  regaled  us  every  day  with  fine  selec- 
tions of  music.  They  seemed  a  very  well-behaved  set  of 
people,  and  I  made  it  a  point  to  converse  with  them 
during  the  five  days  of  our  voyage.  They  professed 
themselves  well  satisfied  with  American  rule.  For  a 
long  time  they  refused  to  play  the  Aguinaldo  march, 
preferring  to  play  American  tunes.  When  I  finally  pre- 
vailed in  my  request,  I  found  the  march  a  rather 
tame  and  melancholy  piece  of  music. 

The  sea  continued  calm  during  the  whole  of  our  voy- 
age, and  seasickness  kept  aloof  from  our  ship.  The  deep 
blue  of  the  waters  in  these  regions  is  something  remark- 
able, and  the  sun's  rays  are  reflected  in  dazzling  white- 
ness from  the  frothy  foam  churned  up  by  the  swift 
course  of  the  vessel  on  the  placid  bosom  of  the  fathom- 
less deep.  At  night  the  waters  gleam  with  livid  phos- 
phorescence, lighting  up  the  dark  sides  of  the  hull  and 
creating  scenes  of  weird  beauty  in  the  glittering  starlight. 
During  these  nights  we  slept  on  the  open  decks,  for  the 
cabins  were  far  too  stuffy  for  us.  It  is  in  such  hours 
that  sometimes  thoughts  of  the  distant  home  come 
upon  the  traveler.  Here,  lying  on  the  open  deck,  the 
eye  could  sweep  the  starlit  vault  and  take  in  at  one 

4 


QUIET  FANCIES. 


glance  myriads  of  those  brilliant  beacons  of  heaven; 
while  all  around,  in  limitless  expanse,  slept  the  ocean 
waves,  silently  supporting  the  brooding  gloom  of  night. 
Mingled  with  the  steady  throb  of  the  giant  piston-rod 
in  the  bowels  of  the  ship  and  the  tremorous  churn  of 
the  screw-blades  astern,  comes,  maybe,  the  cheery  laugh 
of  some  passenger  on  the  upper  decks,  or  the  guttural 
growl  of  the  motley  throngs  in  the  fore  part  of  the  vessel, 
or  perhaps  some  mournful  note  of  their  rude  instruments. 
And  when,  later  at  night,  all  sounds  of  human  life 
are  hushed  and  the  ear  catches  the  tittering  laugh  of 
even  the  smallest  bubble  along  the  vessel's  sides,  what 
strange  fancies  seize  upon  the  traveler!  or,  as  he  is 
thus  borne  over  the  fathomless  waters,  many  thou- 
sand miles  from  his  wonted  scenes,  though  still  beneath 
the  same  vast  dome  of  glittering  stars,  what  memories  of 
things,  read,  heard,  and  experienced,  do  not  crowd  upon 
his  mind!  It  is  the  vastness  of  God's  world,  and  his 
own  insignificance  as  an  individual,  that  fill  the  mind 
with  wonder  and  astonishment. 

But  hark!  what  sounds  of  jarring  strife  and  fierce 
cries  of  anguish  suddenly  break  the  night's  stillness  ?  At 
first  only  the  strident  clamor  of  two  or  three  voices 
rend  the  night  air,  but  soon  the  discord  spreads.  As  I 
hasten  forward  to  the  railing  and  look  down  on  the  for- 
ward deck,  the  dim  starlight  reveals  the  vast  throng  of 
swarthy  natives  in  the  first  stages  of  mutinous  con- 
fusion. Near  the  bow  of  the  vessel,  where  the  flick- 

5 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

ering  flames  of  a  few  faggots  of  wood  on  the  open 
hearth  shot  out  unsteady  light,  (for  the  natives  are 
allowed  to  cook  their  rice  on  deck),  two  or  three  Mo- 
hammedans were  struggling  with  as  many  Laskars,  shout- 
ing forth  imprecations,  while  some  women  and  children 
were  screaming.  Two  stalwart  opponents  clutched  each 
other's  throats,  and  the  flashing  of  murderous  steel  blades 
marked  the  motions  of  their  right  hands  as  they  sought 
the  life-blood  or  warded  off  the  deadly  counter-thrusts. 
It  seemed  as  if  instant  death  of  the  combatants  must  be 
the  result,  as  they  sought  to  throw  each  other  over  the 
heaps  of  baggage  and  prostrate  human  forms  around 
the  narrow  open  space.  In  a  few  moments  the  whole 
deck  was  alive.  Men  hastening  forward,  women  and 
children  arising  from  their  sleep,  the  thickening  cluster 
of  combatants,  made  the  deck  appear  a  pandemonium 
at  rampage,  which  threatened  the  vessel  with  destruction. 
But  the  fracas  had  roused  the  officers  and  crew  to 
action.  The  electric  lights  were  turned  on.  A  flashlight 
suddenly  shot  out  its  glare,  revealing  the  swarthy  and  ex- 
cited faces  of  that  tattered  and  ragged  throng,  and  the 
flashing  of  impassioned  eyes.  Captain  Scott  shouted  his 
hurried  commands  to  the  mate  and  the  crew,  who  pres- 
ently invaded  the  battle-ground,  recklessly  leaping  over 
the  littered  deck  and  pushing  aside  the  unwary  throngs 
of  men,  women,  and  children.  Without  ceremony  they 
opened  a  way  through  the  struggling  crowd,  and,  deal- 
ing out  thumps  and  kicks  right  and  left,  separated  the 

6 


FIERCE  STRIFE. 


ring-leaders.  Just  as  the  masterful  commands  and  sting- 
ing whip  of  the  menagerie  trainer  silence  the  roaring  and 
snarling  beasts  of  a  circus  and  reduce  them  to  sinister 
and  growling  subjection,  so  the  determined  assault  of  the 
crew  cowed  the  angry  mob  of  contestants.  The  ring- 
leaders were  bound  and  taken  to  another  part  of  the 
vessel,  while  a  few  of  the  crew,  well  armed,  patrolled  the 
deck  to  enforce  peace  for  the  rest  of  the  night. 

For  reasons  pointed  out  in  a  former  volume,  we 
had  taken  passage  in  second  cabins,  and  met  with 
some  original  characters  on  board.  There  were  a  few 
skippers,  who  had  just  sold  their  schooners  at  Manila, 
where,  after  the  war  with  the  United  States,  there  was 
a  great  demand  for  all  sorts  of  vessels.  They  must  have 
made  very  satisfactory  deals,  for  all  of  them  felt  quite 
jolly.  But  I  am  afraid  their  jolliness  was  to  some  extent 
due  to  the  solace  lustily  drawn  from  certain  jugs  and 
bottles  in  their  cabins.  At  table  they  were  a  noisy  trio, 
one  of  them  shouting  out  his  orders  to  the  waiters  as  if  on 
deck  of  his  own  vessel  in  a  storm.  He  was  careful,  how- 
ever, about  using  profane  words,  after  I  had  objected  to 
the  use  of  them  in  my  presence.  I  make  it  a  practice  to 
enter  my  protests  in  such  cases,  and  I  do  not  remember 
of  having  met  with  ill-usage  even  from  the  worst  kind  of 
characters.  A  man  who  allows  much  profanity  within 
his  hearing  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  proper  respect 
for  himself;  while  a  judicious  protest,  entered  against 
the  abuse  of  the  name  of  God  or  holy  things,  is  not  only 

7 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

a  couragous  and  gentlemanly  act,  but  will  often  compel 
others  to  be  respectful  in  their  subsequent  behavior. 

There  were  also  a  few  Russians  in  second  class,  who 
were  very  amusing  in  their  self-sufficiency.  All  day  long 
they  seemed  to  be  planning  and  scheming  as  to  what  they 
would  do  with  a  few  thousand  dollars,  which  they  had 
saved  up  as  hotel-keepers  in  one  of  the  new  railroad 
towns  in  Manchuria.  If  they  are  as  persistent  and  in- 
considerate in  grasping  at  business  chances  as  they  were 
in  securing  for  themselves  the  shadiest  and  most  com- 
fortable places  on  deck  and  in  the  dining-room,  they 
probably  have  tripled  their  earnings  by  this  time.  I 
wonder  whether  such  people  are  able  ever  to  look  upon 
the  vastness  of  the  ocean  or  of  the  firmament,  or  the 
magnificence  of  nature,  without  calculations  of  selfish 
gain. 

One  of  the  first-class  passengers  got  up  a  raffle  on  the 
number  of  miles  the  vessel  would  make  in  the  next 
twenty-four  hours.  As  I  understood  it,  twenty-five 
numbers,  as  near  as  possible  to  the  record  of  miles  made 
by  the  steamer  the  day  before,  were  written  on  slips  of 
paper.  These  slips  were  sold  for  a  dollar  apiece  and 
assigned  to  each  one,  according  as  the  lot  decided. 
Even  on  this  voyage  it  became  evident,  that  Mr.  M.  and 
I  had  the  advantage  of  our  former  traveling  companions, 
who  had  refused  to  follow  my  advice  in  regard  to  the 
side-trip  to  Manila.  Instead  of  using  their  round-trip 
tickets,  which  necessitated  a  return  to  Hongkong  and 

8 


SIGHTING  SINGAPORE. 


two  thousand  miles  of  useless  ocean  passage,  I  wanted 
them  to  take  passage  directly  from  Manila.  They 
refused,  fearing  to  depart  from  the  beaten  track  and 
also  on  account  of  the  expense.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
Mr.  M.  and  I,  by  ignoring  our  round-trip  tickets,  gained 
in  point  of  time,  expense,  and  diversity  of  scenes  visited 
and  of  experiences  enjoyed.  Well,  "  Suus  cuique  mos. " 
The  distance  from  Manila  to  Singapore  is  1,386  miles. 
On  the  day  and  night  before  we  sighted  Singapore,  we 
passed  many  islands  dotting  the  vast  ocean,  among  them 
the  large  islands  of  Bintang  and  Sumatra,  which  are 
Dutch  territory  not  far  south  of  the  island  of  Singapore. 
On  the  fifth  day,  in  the  morning  at  eight  o'clock,  when  yet 
ten  miles  from  the  city,  signals  at  the  top  of  a  mast  were 
hoisted  on  a  hill  behind  the  city,  showing  that  the  Palitana 
was  noticed  and  her  signals  understood.  It  is  the  only 
port  where  I  saw  such  signals  made.  The  pilot  came 
aboard  when  we  were  yet  a  considerable  distance  out, 
and  he  was  so  careful  in  piloting  the  vessel  through  the 
channels  between  the  numerous  islands,  that  it  was  half- 
past  ten  before  the  Palitana  swung  alongside  of  its  pier. 
The  landing-place  of  vessels  is  near  the  ship-yards,  more 
than  a  mile  distant  from  the  city  of  Singapore.  No 
sooner  had  we  landed  than  a  horde  of  gharry-men, 
swarthy  Malays,  drivers  of  one-horse  carriages,  sur- 
rounded us,  fighting  for  the  privilege  of  bringing  us  to 
the  city.  But  on  the  way  we  soon  viewed  again  the  more 
familiar  sight  of  the  rickshaw-men  scurrying  in  all  direc- 

9 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

tions  over  the  well-paved  streets.  Their  rickshaws  are 
of  larger  size  than  the  Japanese  jinrikishas,  and  are 
mostly  drawn  by  Chinese  coolies.  In  the  distance  the 
bright-colored  buildings  of  the  city  reflected  the  intense 
light  of  the  tropical  sun.  The  buildings  in  the  business 
portion  of  Singapore  are  very  substantial  structures, 
with  large  porches  or  verandas  running  along  their 
fronts  and  very  often  all  around  the  buildings.  All  was 
life  and  animation  in  the  streets.  Singapore  is  the  meet- 
ing-place of  all  nations  of  the  earth,  for  it  is  the  midway 
station  for  the  shipping  between  the  Orient  and  the 
Occident. 

We  took  rooms  in  the  Adelphi  Hotel,  a  large,  rambling 
structure  with  an  interior  court,  a  beautiful  garden,  and 
large,  open  hallways.  We  had  scarcely  settled  there, 
when  we  met  S.  and  H.,  two  of  our  former  traveling  com- 
panions on  the  Gaelic,  at  the  entrance  of  the  hotel. 
They  had  arrived  with  B.  and  V.  H.  only  an  hour  before 
from  Hongkong,  so  that  our  original  party  would  again 
have  been  complete,  if  M.  and  I  would  have  consented  to 
use  our  through-tickets  on  the  Oriental  and  Occidental 
steamer  for  Calcutta.  But  as  we  had  fared  so  well  in 
planning  our  own  route  from  Hongkong,  I  could  not 
make  up  my  mind  to  join  them ;  we  would  have  a  much 
more  interesting  and  direct  route  by  visiting  Burmah. 
The  O.  and  O.  boats  sail  to  the  southern  point  of  the 
Indian  continent  and  then  transfer  their  passengers  on 
inferior  vessels  to  Calcutta  in  the  north,  making  an  un- 

10 


COOLIES. 

necessary   sea-voyage   of  about    two    thousand   miles. 
This  M.  and  I  proposed  to  avoid. 

After  dinner  we  concluded  to  visit  the  most  notable 
sight  around  Singapore,  the  Botanical  Gardens.  The 
riskshaws  here  are  large  enough  to  accommodate  two 
persons.  But  neither  the  vehicle  nor  its  human  locomo- 
tive power  is  so  picturesque  as  the  Japanese  jinrikishas. 
However,  we  hired  one  of  them  and  asked  a  waiter 
to  direct  the  coolie  on  his  way.  We  had  scarcely 
turned  a  few  squares,  when  our  coolie  stopped  and 
stupidly  waited  for  further  directions.  He  had  evidently 
either  failed  to  understand  or  completely  forgotten 
where  to  go.  A  Japanese  would  have  easily  solved 
the  difficulty  by  asking  information  from  a  passer-by. 
On  the  way  out  to  the  Botanical  Gardens,  as  we  had 
been  told,  is  the  Catholic  Cathedral.  At  haphazard,  I 
therefore  pointed  out  to  the  coolie  at  each  turn  of  the 
street  what  direction  to  take,  arriving  at  length  at  the 
Catholic  bishop's  residence.  Here  we  found  Rev.  B.  and 
V.,  and  a  hospitable  welcome. 

Having  no  time  to  lose,  however,  we  soon  left,  taking 
care  to  have  one  of  the  fathers  give  particular  instructions 
to  our  coolie.  Just  as  everywhere  in  their  colonies,  the 
English  maintain  fine  roads,  leading  through  all  parts  of 
the  island  of  Singapore.  Here  it  is  of  finely  crushed  red 
stone,  overarched  by  magnificent  trees,  under  the  shade  of 
which  we  bowled  along  to  the  Botanical  Gardens  in  our 
rickshaw.  Directing  our  coolie  to  wait  for  us  at  the  monu- 

ii 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

mental  entrance,  we  roamed  through  the  grounds  afoot. 
Here  one  finds  all  the  wonders  of  a  tropical  vegetation; 
winding  paths  skirt  ponds  and  streams,  the  tall  palms  vie 
with  the  spreading  mangoes,  interspersed  with  thousands 
of  other  kinds  of  trees  and  shrubberies,  casting  grateful 
shade  and  forming  exquisite  vistas  of  wood  and  lawn. 
Beds  of  many-colored  flowers  and  blossoming  vines  lend 
loveliness  and  fragrance  to  the  scene,  while  shady  nooks 
invite  to  cool  repose.  Leaving  the  park  at  the  farther 
end,  we  skirted  it  along  a  road  that  led  through  a  majestic 
forest.  Here,  borne  on  the  back  of  a  prancing  steed,  we 
met  a  native  Mohammedan  of  the  richer  class,  who  looked 
down  from  under  his  huge  turban  upon  the  rest  of  the 
world  with  unutterable  scorn.  He  was  followed  afoot 
by  two  richly  dressed  servants,  who  crossed  their  arms 
over  their  breast  whenever  they  feared  he  would  turn 
around.  Is  it  not  a  strange  effect  of  pride,  that  it  swells 
like  a  toad  at  the  sight  of  those  whom  it  considers  inferior, 
while  true  nobility  will  immediately  inspire  with  a  correct 
estimate  of  one's  self  on  encountering  those  that  are  or 
seem  to  be  superior  ?  I  have  seen  overbearing  people 
load  grossly  with  insult  the  lowly,  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  I  have  seen  the  sincere  and  true  unconsciously 
assume  a  noble  and  dignified  bearing  in  the  presence 
of  those  above  them.  The  swollen  pride  and  the  cringing 
cowardice  of  this  worthy  trio  is  a  good  illustration  of 
the  effect  of  the  half-heathenish  Mohammedanism  of  In- 
dia. But,  reader,  why  moralize  ?  Let  us  again  board  our 

12 


THE  CHINESE. 


rickshaw,  and  flit  back  through  the  checkered  shade  to 
Singapore. 

Coming  nearer  to  town,  a  Chinese  procession  with 
gorgeous  banners  and  floaters  passed  noisily  through  the 
streets.  Half  a  dozen  of  men  carried  a  huge  paper 
dragon  aloft,  mingling  their  shouts  and  acclamations 
with  the  sound  of  timbrels,  drums,  and  tamtams,  while 
a  long  line  of  carriages  full  of  richly  dressed  Chinese 
brought  up  the  rear.  This  turn-out  was  probably  a  part 
of  their  New  Year  celebration,  which  had  been  going  on 
now  for  two  weeks.  The  Chinese  form  a  considerable 
part  of  the  native  population  here,  and  we  saw  some  of 
their  fine  residences  along  the  road.  Give  the  Chinese 
but  half  a  chance,  and  they  will,  by  their  industry  and 
dogged  perseverance,  soon  outstrip  others  in  the  race  for 
wealth.  The  Chinese  converts  to  the  Catholic  faith  in 
Singapore  form  a  large  parish,  which  is  entirely  self-sup- 
porting. This  means  a  good  deal  in  the  Orient,  where 
pecuniary  help  to  the  converts  is  the  rule  rather  than  the 
exception.  The  Chinese,  once  converted  to  the  faith,  are 
stanch  and  practical  Catholics,  as  well  here  as  in  China. 


CHAPTER  II. 

YOHORE  AND  ITS  GAMBLING  RESORTS  —  OFF  FOR 
BURMAH  —  PLYING  THROUGH  THE  MALACCA  STRAITS 
—  DREAMY  VOYAGE  —  GAUDAMA'S  GILDED  SHRINES. 

After  some  rest  we  spent  a  few  hours  of  the  afternoon 
and  the  evening  in  the  native  quarters.  Of  course,  in  a 
city  entirely  controlled  by  the  English,  strict  regulations 
with  regard  to  cleanliness  and  order  are  enforced.  Hence 
the  dwellings  and  the  streets  of  the  native  settlement 
present  an  appearance  like  that  of  the  by-streets  of 
European  cities.  In  Singapore  the  Malays  and  Hindoos 
are  pretty  well  crowded  by  the  all-prevailing  Chinese,  who 
set  up  their  stores  and  shops  everywhere.  Till  late 
at  night  the  Chinaman  sits  under  his  flaring  torchlight, 
waiting  for  straggling  customers,  while  the  dusky  crowds 
of  Asiatics  surge  up  and  down  the  streets,  each  intent 
on  his  own  small  business  or  pleasure.  At  one  of  the 
Chinese  tailor-shops  we  ordered  some  white  duck  suits, 
which  the  Chinese  tailor  agreed  to  deliver  on  the  follow- 
ing afternoon.  These  suits  are  quite  commonly  worn 
by  the  Europeans  in  the  Orient;  for  they  are  light  and 
airy  and  easily  washed.  The  bustle  of  the  native  shops 
and  the  glare  of  their  torchlights,  only  a  few  squares 
away,  enlivened  the  cool  night-air,  which  we  enjoyed  on 
the  veranda  of  our  hotel  until  a  late  hour. 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

The  next  day  we  intended  to  make  an  excursion  to 
Yohore,  across  the  straits  north  of  the  island.  This 
noted  gambling  resort  is  still  subject  to  the  sway  of  a 
native  Maharaja,  though  under  English  tutelage.  But 
before  going  we  had  a  lively  time  with  some  of  the  stupid 
rickshaw-men  while  transacting  some  necessary  business 
in  town.  They  are  of  the  lower  castes,  and  in  slowness 
of  comprehension  not  easily  equaled.  What  is  readily 
understood  by  your  Japanese  runner,  will  be  totally 
misunderstood  by  these  Malay  coolies.  The  most 
provoking  feature  about  them  is,  that  they  will  invariably 
nod  assent  to  every  word  or  sign  of  yours.  Assured 
that  your  directions  have  been  understood  and  will 
now  be  executed,  you  lean  back  in  your  rickshaw-seat 
and  let  your  man  start  out  at  a  headlong  trot.  But 
soon  he  comes  to  a  sudden  stop,  looks  around  very 
much  puzzled  at  not  seeing  you  get  out,  though  you  have 
not  the  faintest  desire  of  doing  business  at  that  place.  A 
new  explanation  ensues;  again  the  same  performance. 
The  coolie  whom  we  had  hired  this  morning  managed  to 
bring  us  half-way  to  the  wharf,  then  back  to  the  signal 
station,  and  in  zigzag  course  through  dozens  of  streets 
until  we  found  the  bank  and  the  livery-stables.  He 
would  probably  never  have  arrived  at  the  latter,  if  we  had 
not  requested  an  Englishman  on  a  bicycle  to  enlighten 
his  dense  understanding.  This  he  did  in  a  thorough 
manner  by  simply  accompanying  the  rickshaw  to  the 
livery-office. 

16 


To  YOHORE. 

We  hired  a  gharry  with  the  stipulation,  that  we  were  to 
be  back  in  time  for  embarking  on  the  Nowshera  for 
Rangoon.  It  was  a  pleasant  drive,  past  fine  residences, 
along  country  roads,  well  paved,  under  high,  overarching 
shade-trees,  skirted  by  stretches  of  primeval  jungles, 
which  were  now  and  then  interrupted  by  plantations  of 
cocoa,  pineapple,  banana,  and  sugar-cane.  The  planta- 
tions are  inclosed  by  a  sort  of  dwarf  bamboo,  which  is 
woven  together  as  it  grows  up,  and  makes  a  neat  and 
durable  fence.  At  a  half-way  station,  which  was  one 
of  the  plantations  along  the  road,  our  bony  gray  was 
relieved  by  a  sorrel;  but,  no  doubt,  a  measure  of  oats, 
which  he  had  been  expecting  for  some  weeks,  would  have 
suited  that  sorrel  much  better  than  an  excursion  to 
Yohore. 

Our  road  terminated  at  a  little  settlement  of  natives  on 
the  banks  of  the  strait  of  Singapore.  Yohore  is  about 
a  mile  and  a  half  across  the  strait,  which  here  looks  like  a 
broad  river.  Coolies  with  their  sampans  surrounded  us 
offering  to  bring  us  over  to  Yohore.  Their  sampans  are 
rude  boats,  more  clumsy  than  those  of  Japan  and  China, 
constructed  of  rough  unpainted  planks  and  propelled  by 
long  poles  with  a  round  disk  attached  to  their  lower  end. 
The  oarsman  stands  in  the  rear  of  the  boat  and  every 
stroke  of  the  oars  necessitates  a  full  swing  forward  of  body 
and  arms.  Our  coolie  tried  to  make  us  understand  that 
he  would  overtake  a  boat  far  ahead  of  us,  in  spite  of  the 
unfavorable  wind.  He  was  as  good  as  his  word,  or 

17 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

rather,  his  gestures,  for  he  brought  us  to  our  destination 
half  an  hour  in  advance  of  his  rival. 

Through  the  luxurious  trees  on  the  hill  to  our  left 
gleamed  the  palace  of  the  Maharaja  and  the  noted 
gambling  resort.  As  our  time  was  limited,  we  contented 
ourselves  with  a  rickshaw  tour  through  the  town  on  the 
right,which  seemed  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Chinese, 
and  to  consists  only  of  cheap  gambling  dens  and  opium 
joints.  Entering  one  of  the  former,  we  were  stared  at  by 
the  crowds,  who  were  willing  to  forego  the  pleasure  of 
dice-casting  at  least  a  few  minutes,  in  order  to  get  a  look 
at  such  unusual  callers.  Scores  of  Chinese  sat  behind 
rude  tables  stacked  with  Mexican  dollars  and  copper 
coins,  ready  to  fleece  any  one  that  should  offer.  When- 
ever we  stopped  to  take  a  closer  look  at  the  proceed- 
ings, the  loiterers  would  crowd  around,  expecting,  no 
no  doubt,  to  see  us  engage  in  the  game  and  break  the 
banks.  But  they  got  small  satisfaction,  for  we  had  very 
little  time,  and  were  not  anxious  to  take  the  risk  of  being 
sunk  on  our  way  across  the  strait  by  a  load  of  copper  coins. 
The  streets  present  nothing  of  the  liveliness  of  the  Orient: 
there  is  an  air  of  concealment  about  the  place, and  the  few 
people  to  be  met  with  seem  all  to  be  waiting  listlessly  for 
some  turn  of  fortune  to  come  unawares.  I  wondered 
where  energy  enough  could  ever  be  found  in  this  neighbor- 
hood to  build  up  the  great  stone  wall,  which  forms  the  pier 
a  mile  and  a  half  long,  or  to  keep  the  roadways  in  such 
fine  condition.  There  are  also  the  remnants  of  a  canal, 

18 


ORIENTAL  DELAYS. 


which  seems  to  give  access  to  the  interior  of  the  country. 
No  doubt,  most  of  these  improvements  are  due  to  their 
English  protectors  across  the  straits. 

We  had  made  the  mistake  of  giving  our  boatman  his 
pay  and  some  extra  fees  on  leaving  the  sampan.  So,  in- 
stead of  being  at  his  post  to  bring  us  back,  he  was  nowhere 
to  be  seen.  This  delay  and  another,  which  was  occa- 
sioned by  our  Hindoo  driver  on  the  other  shore,  nearly 
proved  fatal  to  our  embarkment  on  the  Nowshera.  This 
good  man  had  unhitched  his  horse,  turned  it  out  for  pas- 
ture, and  had  sought  some  shady  nook  to  take  a  siesta. 
One  of  the  village  urchins  found  him  a  half  mile  away  and 
roused  him  out  of  his  slumber.  The  most  annoying 
features  of  Oriental  life  for  Europeans  is  the  necessity  of 
keeping  so  many  servants  who  will  do  nothing,  unless  re- 
peatedly instructed  and  continually  watched.  For  each 
household  a  host  of  servants  is  required,  on  account  of  the 
difference  of  caste ;  each  servant  will  do  just  one  certain 
kind  ,  of  work  suited  to  his  caste  and  under  no  circum- 
stances can  he  be  induced  to  do  the  work  of  another, 
especially  of  a  lower  caste.  One  good  European  servant 
is  worth  any  dozen  of  them,  that  you  may  select. 

A  drizzling  rain  had  begun  to  fall  during  our  return 
from  Yohore.  The  driver  was  provokingly  slow,  and  we 
were  under  great  apprehension  of  missing  our  steamer. 
But  there  was  no  help  for  it,  especially  as  the  horse  was  al- 
most exhausted  before  we  could  get  to  the  half-way  station. 
Nevertheless  we  obtained  the  duck  suits,  which  cost  us  only 

19 

J 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

two  dollars  a  suit,  and  finished  our  errands  in  time  to  reach 
the  Nowshera.  The  hotel-keeper  wanted  to  charge  us  full 
amount  for  one  extra  day,  because  we  arrived  one  hour 
later  than  we  expected.  I  understand,  that  some  of  the 
hotels  set  a  certain  hour  and  charge  a  full  day's  board  for 
the  least  fraction  of  a  day,  on  which  you  leave  your  baggage 
over  time.  Of  course,  the  hour  is  selected  in  such  a  way, 
that  as  many  travelers  as  possible  will,  in  the  natural 
course  of  events,  overlapse  the  time. 

I  must  not  omit  a  few  remarks  about  the  natives  of 
Singapore.  There  is  quite  a  mixture  of  different  national- 
ities; for  this  seaport  is  the  gathering  and  transfer  point  of 
almost  all  the  Oriental  shipping.  The  natives  are  Malays 
from  the  peninsula,  but  there  is  a  large  sprinkling  of  Hin- 
doos, Chinese,  and  Cingalese.  The  natives  are  almost 
black,  but  have  regular  and  pleasant  features,  stately  bear- 
ing and  more  intelligence  than  the  ordinary  Chinese  cool- 
ies. We  saw  hardly  any  women  on  the  streets,  for  the 
Mohammedans  prevail,  and  the  Mohammedan  women 
are  supposed  to  stay  at  home.  The  natives  mostly  wear 
a  white  strip  of  muslin,  which  they  wind  around  their  mid- 
dle in  different  fashions,  but  generally  one  of  the  ends 
covers  also  the  upper  part  of  the  body,  while  the  other  end 
hangs  down  from  the  loins.  A  strip  of  cotton  cloth  is 
wound  around  their  heads  for  a  turban.  Many  of  them, 
however,  wear  no  headgear,  but  allow  their  long  shaggy 
hair  to  fall  down  in  thick  curls  to  the  neck;  The 

ubiquitous  Chinaman  does  business  for  the  natives  and 

20 


QUIET  VOYAGE. 

gets  the  cash.  The  gharries  are  driven  by  Hindoos. 
Small,  neat-looking  ponies  are  used  here  to  draw  the 
carriages,  while  the  heavier  wagons  are  drawn  by  the 
drab-colored  Hindoo  cows  or  oxen  with  flabby  necks 
and  of  very  gentle  disposition.  The  yoke  is  a  straight 
beam  simply  laid  across  the  necks  of  the  team  and  sup- 
porting a  clumsy  tongue.  The  driver  walks  between  the 
cart  and  the  oxen,  and  seems  very  gentle  in  his  treat- 
ment of  the  beasts. 

Swinging  out  from  her  pier,  the  Nowshera  soon  passed 
between  northern  Sumatra  with  its  range  of  islands, 
and  the  mainland  of  the  Malay  Peninsula,  forming  the 
Strait  of  Malacca.  The  sun  had  again  broken  through 
rain-clouds  and  gleamed  on  the  distant  hilltops  and  on  the 
ripples  of  the  calm  blue  ocean. 

Our  only  fellow-passenger  in  the  first  cabin  on  the 
Nowshera  was  a  wealthy  Chinese  merchant,  who  kept  him- 
self very  much  aloof  during  the  whole  voyage.  We  found 
it  very  strange  that  these  English  steamers  do  not  carry 
deck-chairs,  such  as  we  had  found  on  the  Gaelic. 
The  steamship  companies  evidently  need  some  of  the 
American  competition  to  make  them  think  a  little  more  of 
the  comfort  of  their  passengers. 

The  five  days  of  ocean-voyage  to  Rangoon  were 
among  the  most  quiet  and  dreamy  of  our  whole  tour 
around  the  globe.  The  Chinese  merchant  we  saw  only 
two  or  three  times  during  the  whole  voyage;  the  one 

or  two  officers  at  meals  seemed  to  avoid  conversation. 

21 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

There  were  hardly  any  natives  on  the  lower  decks; 
we  ourselves  lounged  about  all  day  under  the  awning  of 
the  stern.  The  vessel  plowed  steadily  along,  while  over  the 
sunny  ocean  the  distant  land  now  and  then  appeared  on 
each  side.  Our  captain  had  some  queer  notions  about  the 
United  States,  which  he  had  picked  up  from  passengers, 
and  which  he  timidly  expressed  during  our  meals.  For 
instance,  he  seemed  to  be  under  the  impression,  that  all 
administration  of  justice  in  the  United  States  was  by 
Lynch  law  and  nobody  could  be  tried  any  other  way.  I 
was  loath  to  give  vent  to  my  total  disapproval  of  the  Boer 
war  in  the  presence  of  the  captain,  for  he  was  entirely  con- 
vinced of  the  justice  of  it,  and  was  yet  so  careful  to  keep 
out  of  any  dispute  on  the  subject-^. 

On  the  evening  of  the  fourth  day  a  light-ship  loomed 
up  on  the  placid  surface  of  the  water  in  the  west,  and  fre- 
quent soundings  were  taken,  showing  that  we  were  in  the 
regions  of  the  shallows.  The  steamer  made  a  wide  curve 
to  the  right  from  this  point,  so  that  we  could  trace  its  rip- 
pled course,  on  the  calm  blue  waters  behind  us  for  several 
miles.  The  waters  were  so  intensely  blue  that  they  seemed 
colored  with  indigo :  a  bucketful  drawn  up,  however,  is  as 
clear  and  limpid  as  purest  spring  water.  The  next  morn- 
ing we  found  ourselves  anchored  far  up  the  mouth  of  the 
great  Irawaddy  River,  several  miles  from  Rangoon.  The 
outrushing  tide  had  swung  the  head  of  the  steamer  ocean- 
ward,  and  the  vast  yellow  floods  that  thundered  on  be- 
ween  the  widespread  banks,  kept  tugging  at  the  crunching 

22 


AT  RANGOON. 


anchor-chains  until  nine  o'clock.  Then  the  tide  returned, 
the  high  banks  on  each  side  seeming  to  sink  into  the  floods 
of  the  rising  water,  and  our  vessel  slowly  swung  around 
to  proceed  up  the  river.  At  one  o'clock  the  steeples  of 
Rangoon  appeared  in  view,  and  above  them  all  towered  the 
golden  conoid  spire  of  the  renowned  Buddhist  temple 
of  Gaudama.  Yet  it  was  four  o'clock,  before  the 
immense  hawser  had  fastened  our  boat  definitely  to  the 
jetty.  In  the  meanwhile,  crowds  of  natives  filled  the 
wharf,  eager  to  be  hired  for  unloading  the  steamer. 
Many  of  them,  more  enterprising,  climbed  up  the  high  bul- 
warks, in  order  to  secure  employment.  Soon  the  steamer 
was  a  pandemonium  of  shouting  officers,  excited  sailors, 
and  screaming  natives,  for  the  great  cargo  stored  away 
in  its  dark  holds  was  to  be  cleared  over  night. 

We,  however,  tried  to  escape  from  the  turmoil  on  the 
wharf  to  take  a  stroll  in  the  city.  Rangoon  is  compara- 
tively new,  and  is  laid  out  in  broad  streets  lined  with  shade- 
trees.  The  buildings  are  of  the  usual  kind  in  colonial 
towns:  arched  structures  of  brick,  veneered  with  mortar 
mostly  painted  yellow,  and  very  often  consisting  of  four  or 
five  stories.  The  remnants  of  the  old  native  town  are  less 
pretentious,  consisting,  to  a  great  extent,  of  rude  bamboo 
huts  with  thatched  roofs.  Chinese  shops  and  those  of  the 
Tamils,  Hindoos,  Mussulmans,  Jews,  and  Armenians  are 
found  all  over  the  city.  They  are  more  or  less  dingy  dens, 
where  the  small  stock  of  commodities  is  exposed  for  sale. 
The  Burmese  themselves  are  not  energetic  enough,  it 

23 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

seems,  to  compete  in  business  with  these  foreigners.  Since 
the  English  have  taken  possession  of  Burmah,  Rangoon 
is  having  quite  a  boom,  and  no  doubt  those  petty  mer- 
chants will  be  able  to  retire  to  their  own  country  with  a 
competence  in  a  few  years,  no  less  than  their  English 
brothers. 

One  of  the  gharry-drivers,  after  the  usual  trouble  to 
make  ourselves  understood,  finally  landed  us  at  the  parish 
house  of  the  Catholic  cathedral.  Here  we  were  invited 
to  stay  by  the  hospitable  pastor,  Fr.  Luce;  but  as  it  was 
yet  early,  we  asked  him  to  instruct  the  driver  to  bring  us 
to  the  great  pagoda  of  Gaudama,  the  gilded  spire  of  which 
we  had  seen  at  a  great  distance  before  reaching  Rangoon. 
This  collection  of  temples,  large  and  small,  is  situated  on 
a  high  hill  overlooking  the  city.  At  the  entrance  to  the 
temple  grounds  stand  two  huge  dragons  fifty  feet  high 
and  painted  white  and  red.  From  this  entrance  a  passage- 
way, resting  on  stone  pillars,  flanked  on  both  sides  by 
Chinese  booths,  leads  upward.  By  means  of  small 
flights  of  stairs,  at  intervals  of  a  dozen  yards  or  there- 
abouts, this  arched  passageway  ascends  a  hill,  some  four 
hundred  feet  high. 

The  naked  feet  of  countless  millions,  that  had  used 
these  stairs  in  the  course  of  many  centuries,  had  worn  the 
stone  flags  hollow  in  the  center,  and  so  smooth  that  great 
care  was  necessary  in  order  not  to  slip.  Little  light  was 
admitted  between  the  colonnade  on  each  side,  and  beg- 
gars swarmed  galore  around  the  petty  booths  that  lined 

24 


A  MAZE  OF  TEMPLES. 


the  way.  As  we  issued  into  the  wilderness  of  temples  on 
the  spacious  plateau  of  the  hill,  we  beheld  the  great  gilt 
spire  of  the  principal  temple  rising  far  above  the  other 
structures  into  the  evening  sky,  and  the  last  rays  of  the 
sun,  reflected  from  its  golden  sides,  cast  a  mellow  light 
upon  the  wonderful  groups  of  shrines  scattered  around. 
The  main  pagoda  is  built  in  the  shape  of  a  tower  fully 
three  hundred  feet  high.  Its  base  is  some  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  feet  square,  but  at  the  height  of  fifty  or 
sixty  feet  it  assumes  a  conical  shape,  curving  upward  in 
the  middle  and  tapering  into  the  blue  sky  like  a  golden 
and  solid  Eiffel  tower. 

No  less  wonderful  are  the  numerous  shrines  and  tem- 
ples round  about  it.  Here  is  truly  Oriental  splendor, 
scattered  in  weird  profusion  inside  and  outside  of  the 
buildings.  "  As  we  issued  from  the  head  of  the  stairs, 
we  heard  monotonous  incantations,  in  the  style  of  our 
litanies,  proceeding  from  one  of  the  glittering  temples  in 
front  of  us.  The  front  part  of  the  temple  formed  a 
sort  of  open  colonnade  whereas  the  gorgeous  altars  and 
separate  shrines  in  the  darker  recesses  of  the  rear  were 
illumined  by  hundreds  of  burning  wax  candles.  Behind 
these  a  mysterious  gloom  prevailed,  from  which  mufSed 
drums  and  jingling  bells  resounded.  The  ceiling  and 
the  pillars  sparkled  in  gold  and  mosaic  ornamentations. 
Numerous  images  of  Buddha,  large  and  small,  stood  on 
their  overarched  pedestals.  Scores  of  natives  were 
kneeling  with  their  faces  touching  the  inlaid  pavement  of 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

the  temple  and  repeating  the  solemn  incantations  of 
the  litany.  Flanking  this  temple  to  the  right  stood  num- 
erous smaller  shrines,  some  of  which  looked  like  tombs. 
Behind  the  iron-grated  fronts  laughed,  grinned,  and 
frowned  the  statues  of  hundreds  of  idols  or  Buddhas. 
Some  of  these  were  artistically  carved  in  marble,  others 
in  wood,  some  showed  the  decay  of  centuries,  others, 
again,  were  richly  dressed  in  fine  silks  and  necklaces  of 
pearl  and  gold.  Most  of  them  were  in  the  traditional 
contemplative  position  of  the  original  Buddha,  sitting 
cross-legged  in  tailor  fashion.  Farther  along  the  main 
avenue  that  circles  around  the  temple  grounds,  glittered 
the  richly  inlaid  pillars  of  a  temple,  which  was  a  marvel 
of  artistic  carving  in  pinkado  wood.  The  carvings  on 
this  and  on  many  other  of  the  smaller  temples  seemed  the 
work  of  fairy  hands.  So  lifelike  are  the  figures  of  men, 
animals,  and  plants  that  adorn  the  walls,  cornices,  and 
roofs  of  these  buildings,  that  one  almost  expected  these 
figures  to  complete  the  action  in  which  they  were  re- 
presented, or  those  leaves  and  plants  to  stir  to  and  fro 
with  the  next  cool  evening  breeze  that  swept  along. 

Opposite  to  this  last-mentioned  temple  two  huge  dragons 
with  snake-like  bodies  rear  their  horrid  arms  and  visage 
at  least  seventy-five  feet  aloft.  On  closer  examina- 
tion they  were  found  to  be  made  of  rod-iron  or  copper 
screen-work,  with  openings  of  about  an  inch  in  diameter. 
Within  these  openings  were  suspended  pieces  of  pris- 
matic and  colored  glass,  jingling  as  the  breeze  passed 

26 


BURMESE  PIETY. 


through,  and  reflecting  the  sun's  rays  in  a  thousand 
different  hues  as  they  swung  in  their  framework.  It 
would  take  a  long  time  to  describe  all  the  splendid  monu- 
ments of  religious  fervor  that  cover  this  hill,  and  the 
wonderful  ingenuity  that  is  displayed  in  the  variety  and 
grotesqueness  of  the  ornaments  employed.  Who  will  say 
that  religion  is  but  a  vain  aberration  of  the  mind,  when 
from  a  vague  sense  of  its  necessity,  implanted  in 
the  human  soul,  such  riches  are  expended  in  order  to 
satisfy  its  craving  ?  All  over  the  temple  grounds  and  in- 
side the  temples  could  be  seen  numerous  worshipers 
kneeling  with  folded  hands  and  praying  aloud.  Each 
worshiper  generally  brought  along  a  candle  to  be  burnt 
before  his  favorite  statue.  At  one  place  a  father  with  his 
whole  family  lay  prostrate  before  an  obscure  and  neg- 
lected idol,  earnestly  repeating  a  litany. 

Though  the  Burmese,  to  judge  from  their  features  and 
the  style  of  their  architecture,  are  undoubtedly  a  race  kin- 
dred to  the  Chinese,  they  differ  considerably  in  regard  to 
religion.  They  do  not  hold  Confucius  in  such  high  regard 
as  the  Chinese,  and  are  Buddhists,  more  than  anything 
else.  A  good  deal  of  the  sensuality  of  Indian  Buddhism 
and  Brahmanism  is  absent  from  their  form  of  religion. 
Their  religious  code  is  more  simple,  and  in  regard  to 
family  life  they  are  superior. 

Down  through  the  covered  colonnade  we  retraced  our 
steps,  several  times  losing  our  foothold  on  the  worn-out 
and  slippery  steps  in  the  gathering  dusk;  the  series  of 

27 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

stairs  were  more  an  inclined  plane  than  flights  of  graded 
stairs-  On  our  way  back  we  passed  through  some  of 
the  fine  parks  with  which  the  English  have  embellished 
Rangoon.  A  military  band  was  giving  well  rendered 
selections  of  music  on  one  of  the  lawns.  But  there 
seemed  to  be  no  enthusiasm  either  in  the  players  or  in 
the  few  scores  of  English  listeners,  that  had  gathered  on 
the  greensward :  they  seemed  all  much  surprised  when  I 
clapped  in  applause  of  their  fine  performance.  On  one 
of  the  streets  along  the  wharf,  under  the  glaring  torch- 
light, a  group  of  Hindoo  jugglers  was  giving  exhibi- 
tions to  an  immense  crowd  of  ragged  natives.  Grunts 
of  approval  from  the  spectators  rewarded  their  efforts; 
but  whether  there  was  any  more  substantial  reward,  I 
could  not  tell,  for  no  regular  fee  was  charged,  nor  did  I 
see  any  collection  taken  up. 

Arriving  at  the  ship,  we  were  surprised  to  see  that  its 
huge  hulk  had  sunk  with  the  ebbing  tide,  and  its  bul- 
warks, which  had  towered  twenty  feet  above  the  jetty 
when  we  left,  were  now  almost  even  with  the  wharf.  A 
great  roaring  flame  of  gasoline,  whirred  from  the  top  of  a 
blast  lamp,  lighting  up  the  whole  neighborhood  like  a 
conflagration.  Unseen  hands  were  casting  forth  a 
continuous  stream  of  cocoanuts  and  other  merchan- 
dise through  the  open  natches,  while  outside  were 
hundreds  of  ragged  natives,  hustling  carts  full  of 
the  cargo  to  the  near-by  warehouses.  These  Orient- 
als accompany  their  work  with  a  continuous  shouting 

28 


NOISY  WORKERS. 


and  singing,  for  the  louder  they  shout  and  sing 
the  more  earnestly  they  are  at  work.  They  flagged  not 
during  the  whole  night,  for  into  our  cabins  their  monot- 
onous singing  resounded  until  morning.  We  had  re- 
turned to  the  vessel  over  night,  as  we  had  made  no  arrange- 
ments regarding  our  baggage.  But  during  the  day  we  had 
decided  to  take  passage  on  the  Karagola,  aboard  of 
which  we  ordered  our  baggage  to  be  brought  before 
leaving  in  the  morning.  As  we  shall  see,  this  order  was 
fortunately  disregarded. 


29 


CHAPTER  III. 

EXCURSION  TO  THONZE  —  LABORS  OF  LOVE  —  NATIVE 
LIFE  —  IN  MURDEROUS  ARRAY  —  A  CASSOCKED 
NIMROD — HUNTER'S  LUCK. 

Early  morning  found  us  again  on  our  way  to  the 
cathedral,  for  I  never  missed  saying  mass  during  my 
travels  whenever  it  was  in  the  least  feasible.  Upon 
inquiry  we  found,  that  we  could  easily  make  a  short 
trip  into  the  interior  and  be  back  in  time  for  the 
departure  of  the  Karagola.  Accordingly  we  were  glad 
to  get  an  introductory  letter  to  Father  Perroy  in  Thonze, 
about  65  miles  from  Rangoon  on  the  Prome  Rail- 
road. The  British  railroads  in  Burmah  and  India 
are  run  on  the  European  plan.  Second-class  coaches 
were  almost  the  same  as  first-class,  and  they  are  so 
arranged  that  the  seats  of  the  coupes,  when  let  down, 
will  furnish  four  fine  couches  for  sleeping  at  night.  The 
road  is  fenced  by  wire  strung  on  iron  posts,  which  seems 
strange  in  a  country  covered  with  forests  and  jungles;  but 
this  is  necessary  on  account  of  the  ants  which  would  eat 
through  ordinary  posts  in  one  night.  Numerous  venders 
of  eatables  and  other  small  articles  of  merchandise,  espe- 
cially of  areca  nuts  on  betel  leaves,  enliven  the  stops 
of  the  trains  at  each  station.  The  railroad  runs  through 
a  flat  country,  which  is  flooded  in  the  rainy  season,  making 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

it  especially  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  rice.  On  both 
sides  of  the  railroad  most  of  the  valuable  teak  and  pinkado 
timber  had  been  cut  for  some  distance  inward.  Fire  had 
ravaged  great  stretches  of  this  country  during  the  dry 
season,  as  it  finds  a  ready  nourishment  in  the  parched 
jungles.  Vast  quantities  of  rice  lay  piled  up  in  sacks 
along  the  railroad,  awaiting  shipment;  for  Burmah  is  the 
greatest  rice  producing  country  in  the  world,  and  the 
principal  industry  of  Rangoon  are  its  rice  mills. 

We  arrived  at  Thonze  at  one  o'clock  at  night.  Father 
Perroy  was  awaiting  us  at  the  station  with  a  gharry.  The 
town  is  about  a  mile  from  the  railroad  and  contains  only 
natives.  The  mission-house,  like  all  the  better  dwellings, 
was  built  upon  high  posts  and  resembled  a  summer  pavil- 
ion, constructed  of  Venetian  blinds,  that  admit  the  air 
but  exclude  the  heat  of  the  sun.  The  furniture  was  in 
keeping  with  the  poverty  of  these  missionaries.  How- 
over,  the  punka,  a  huge  fan  fastened  to  the  ceiling,  was 
not  missing,  and  it  was  vigorously  swung  by  a  native  boy 
while  we  were  at  dinner.  Our  meal  consisted  of  a  generous 
roast  of  water-buffalo  and  a  vegetable  stew.  When  the 
heat  had  moderated  towards  evening,  our  host  showed 
us  his  compound.  On  it  stood  the  airy  church,  with  many 
chinks  and  cracks,  built  of  rough  teakwood  boards;  the 
incipient  normal  school  for  instructing  native  catechists; 
the  house  and  schoolrooms  of  the  orphan  boys;  another 
for  the  girls,  and  even  a  hospital  of  modest  pretensions, 
which  harbored  only  one  patient  at  the  time.  To  one 

32 


A  MISSIONARY  COMPOUND. 


side  was  a  large  reservoir  for  rainwater,  which,  however, 
would  soon  be  dispensed  with,  as  the  father  had  begun 
the  construction  of  the  only  well  in  town.  The  natives 
were  afraid  of  encountering  evil  spirits  in  the  well  after 
it  had  reached  a  depth  of  fifteen  feet,  and  the  only  way 
he  could  induce  them  to  work  at  it  was  by  descending 
himself  and  taking  a  hand  in  the  work.  His  garden  was 
stocked  with  an  abundant  supply  of  vegetables,  for  there 
were  many  hungry  mouths  to  be  fed.  A  new  growth  of 
areca  palms  gave  promise  of  a  good  crop  of  betel  nuts. 
There  was  also  a  granary  for  the  paddy,  which  is  un- 
husked  rice.  Some  of  the  orphan  girls  were  just  then 
at  work  husking  some  of  it  for  immediate  use.  Their 
threshing  machine  was  merely  a  stone,  which  the  girl 
raised  by  stepping  on  one  end  of  a  lever  and  allowing 
it  to  fall  on  a  small  quantity  of  the  paddy  lying  on  the 
hollowed  surface  of  another  stone.  All  these  improve- 
ments were  the  fruit  of  ten  years  of  solitary  labor  in  the 
midst  of  these  half-civilized  natives.  Yet  the  father,  in 
his  conversation,  mentioned  many  other  plans  that  he 
had  in  view  for  the  future.  The  contributions  from  the 
natives  amount  to  nothing,  for  they  are  too  poor.  He 
works  for  no  salary,  and  the  expenses  for  his  own  house- 
hold probably  must  be  kept  within  one  hundred  dollars 
a  year.  The  improvements  were  possible  only  by 
charitable  donations  from  the  outside,  and  principally  by 
careful  management  and  by  the  labor  of  his  own  hands. 
The  converts  to  the  Catholic  faith  are  largely  Kareens 
33 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

belonging  to  the  Pali  race  from  the  north,  and  more 
industrious  and  thrifty  than  the  Burmese  proper.  Their 
religion  is  entirely  spiritual,  having  no  system  of  church 
government,  no  idols,  no  priests,  not  even  any  special 
place  of  worship,  all  of  which  is  so  highly  developed 
among  the  Burmese.  The  Kareens  adore  a  supreme 
spirit  of  good  and  try  to  propitiate  evil  spirits.  The 
Burmese,  on  the  other  hand,  have  a  well  organized  church 
government.  Their  Buddhist  ponghees,  or  monks,  are 
unmarried;  at  least  they  promise  to  remain  celibates  for 
a  certain  number  of  years.  They  live  in  community, 
practice  severe  fasts,  and  enjoy  great  influence  among 
the  common  people.  On  the  streets  they  are  required 
to  look  in  an  opposite  direction  whenever  they  meet  a 
woman;  but  the  father  told  me  that  it  is  often  a  source 
of  amusement  to  him  to  see  these  monks,  after  having 
turned  their  faces  from  the  women  as  they  pass, 
deliberately  gazing  at  their  retreating  figures  from 
some  corner,  or  other  concealed  point.  In  Thonze 
and  in  Rangoon  we  saw  many  of  these  ponghees  walking 
the  streets  in  their  yellow  mantles,  which  they  wear 
somewhat  like  a  Roman  toga. 

Besides  the  Kareens  and  the  Burmese,  many  Hindoos 
are  met  with,  rivaling  the  Chinese  in  business  and  handi- 
craft of  all  kinds.  Their  religion  is  of  the  grossest  kind 
of  Brahmanism,  in  many  points  more  immoral  than  the 
heathen  cults  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Syria  and 
Egypt.  Many  of  the  Hindoos  have  their  foreheads 

34 


THONZE. 

marked  with  streaks  of  white  or  red  paint,  and  carry 
suspended  from  their  necks  obscene  representations 
wrought  in  gold  or  silver,  in  order  to  commemorate  the 
shameful  practices  of  Shiva.  The  towns  and  villages  of 
Burmah  are  under  supervision  of  native  chiefs,  and  each 
family  is  again  under  supervision  of  a  petty  chief  or  the 
head  of  ten  families.  They  are  strictly  responsible  to 
the  English  commissioner  of  the  district  for  any  in- 
fringement of  the  law.  The  natives  are  allowed  no  fire- 
arms, for  Burmah  is  yet  under  a  sort  of  military  rule, 
where  small  insurrections  are  not  infrequent.  Because 
the  natives  are  forbidden  the  use  of  firearms,  the  wild 
beasts  are  multiplying  fast  in  the  outlying  districts  and 
demand  many  victims  during  the  year. 

During  a  stroll  through  the  town  and  in  the  outskirts 
we  passed  a  small  pagoda,  surrounded  by  some  monas- 
teries. Grotesque  statues  of  lions  guarded  each  side  of 
the  entrance  and  rows  of  other  statues  lined  the  dim 
interior.  To  one  side  of  the  pagoda,  in  an  open  summer- 
house,  a  bevy  of  Burmese  girls  and  young  women  were 
frolicking  about,  engaged  in  some  decorative  work.  The 
town  consists  for  the  most  part  of  rude  huts  and  some 
streets  with  rows  of  small  shops.  The  most  worthless 
things  here  form  important  articles  of  merchandise.  The 
Chinese,  especially,  seem  to  get  rich  by  selling  old  rubbish. 
The  main  road  leading  north  is  kept  in  fine  repair  by  the 
English;  otherwise  there  would  be  little  possibility  of  travel 
as  the  natives  do  not  care  for  such  improvements.  Walk- 

35 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

ing  a  mile  or  two  along  this  road,  in  the  pleasant  evening, 
with  Father  Perroy,  we  were  deferentially  saluted  by  the 
natives  whom  we  met.  In  front  of  the  huts  along  the  road 
I  frequently  saw  jars  containing  drinking  water,  placed 
there  by  the  kind  and  hospitable  natives  for  passing  stran- 
gers. 

When  we  again  entered  the  town,  the  streets  were 
aglare  with  the  torchlights  in  front  of  the  shops  and  stands 
of  the  petty  traders.  Gambling  and  good-natured  frolic 
were  going  on.  After  the  harvest,  the  Burmese  are 
regularly  fleeced  by  the  owners  of  the  gambling  stands 
and  by  the  money  lenders.  A  Burmese  will  risk  all  his 
earnings  at  the  gambling  table,  and  if  he  loses,  he  will 
borrow  even  at  40  per  cent  from  the  Chinese  money- 
lenders, in  order  to  continue  his  play.  On  this  account 
most  of  the  small  landholders  are  hopelessly  mortgaged 
to  the  foreign  intruders  from  China  and  Hindustan. 

The  Hindoos  and  Burmese  are  fond  of  gold  and  silver 
bracelets  on  their  arms  and  legs.  Some  of  them  also  wear 
rings  through  their  ears  and  noses.  The  little  children  in 
the  native  settlement  near  Wanetchaung  had  these  orna- 
ments dangling  from  their  bodies,  though  otherwise  with- 
out covering.  The  dress  of  the  Burmese  consists  mostly 
of  a  white  or  colored  strip  of  cloth,  in  all  stages  of  clean- 
liness, wound  around  their  middle,  leaving  as  a  rule  the 
rest  of  their  body  exposed.  The  women,  however,  have 
an  extra  loose  piece  of  cloth  thrown  crosswise  over  their 
shoulders  and  covering  their  breasts. 

36 


IN  NIMROD  FASHION. 


During  the  afternoon  Father  Perroy  had  unwittingly 
showed  great  interest,  when  I  told  him  I  would  like  to 
scour  through  some  of  the  jungles  on  a  hunting  excursion, 
if  possible.  In  his  eagerness  to  please  me  and  to  fulfill  all 
the  requirements  of  hospitality,  he  at  once  assured  me, 
that  he  himself  had  great  hankerings  after  the  same  kind  of 
sport,  and  that  he  could  easily  accommodate  me  in  that 
line.  What  was  more  natural  for  me  than  to  immed- 
iately accept  this  offer  ? 

He  mentioned  Wanetchaung,  easily  reached  by  the 
midnight  train,  as  a  likely  place  for  the  indulgence  in  that 
kind  of  sport.  Accordingly  at  midnight  the  priest's  house 
presented  a  strange  scene.  Father  Perroy  had  aroused 
us  from  brief  slumber.  Three  sleepy  orphan  boys  in  their 
native  dress  stood  waiting  in  murderous  array  armed  with 
a  couple  of  guns.  In  the  feeble  candle  light  we  hunted  up 
our  belongings  and  then  we  started  out  together  through 
the  dark  and  silent  streets  of  the  town  toward  the  railroad 
station.  We  looked  much  like  a  band  of  insurrectionists 
slinking  through  the  darkness  on  some  nefarious  enter- 
prise. Only  the  missionary  appeared  somewhat  unsports- 
manlike, for  he  came  along  in  his  cassock.  I  began 
to  suspect  that  he  must  have  overrated  his  own  penchant 
for  the  noble  woodcraft,  and  the  next  day  I  became  quite 
convinced  of  the  correctness  of  my  surmises,  when  the 
good  father  told  my  companion  in  private,  that  he  never 
fired  any  kind  of  a  gun,  and  this  was  his  first  hunting 
expedition.  In  the  second-class  coaches  we  obtained  a 

37 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

coupe  for  ourselves,  and  we  continued  our  interrupted 
sleep  on  the  soft  couches  until  we  arrived  at  Wanetchaung 
shortly  after  four  o'clock.  The  native  depotmaster  and 
his  wife  were  Catholic  converts,  and  they  readily  offered  us 
places  to  finish  our  night's  rest  in  their  quarters  above 
the  station  rooms. 

At  break  of  day  we  were  invited  to  a  breakfast,  and 
afterwards  to  partake  of  the  betel  nut.  This  is  the  nut  of 
the  areca  palm,  wrapped  into  a  green  betel  leaf  with  a  little 
caraway  seed,  clove,  and  lime.  It  is  then  ready  to  be 
taken  into  the  mouth  and  to  be  slowly  dissolved.  It 
has  a  stringent  taste,  but  has  a  cooling  effect  in  hot 
weather.  The  juice  that  forms  in  the  mouth  is  blood  red, 
and,  as  this  juice  cannot  be  swallowed,  it  must  be  fre- 
quently ejected  just  like  tobacco  juice.  The  use  of  the 
betel  nut  is  universal  in  these  countries,  and  one  of  the 
disgusting  sights  everywhere  is  the  red  betel  juice  on 
the  walks,  like  the  relics  of  frequent  hemorrhage 
thrown  up  along  the  way.  The  lips  and  mouth  of  the 
betel  chewer  turn  intensely  red  while  the  teeth  become 
jet  black. 

Soon  we  started  out  in  dread  array  for  the  destruction 
of  whatsoever  beast  of  the  forest  would  have  the  temerity 
to  venture  across  our  paths.  But  it  seems  our  path  and 
the  path  of  the  beasts  diverged  to  a  considerable  extent, 
especially  as  I  could  not  persuade  my  companions  to  leave 
the  trail  that  led  into  the  woods  toward  a  settlement  of 
natives  a  few  miles  distant.  For  want  of  any  larger  game 

38 


IN  THE  JUNGLES. 


I  began  to  shoot  at  some  noisy  parrots  and  other  strange 
birds  in  order  to  get  a  closer  look  at  their  plumage.  A 
good  deal  of  the  larger  timber  had  been  cut  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Wanetchaung.  But  near  the  little  settlement 
the  jungle  became  more  dense.  All  at  once  we  stood  in 
front  of  a  group  of  native  huts.  The  children,  some  of 
them  entirely  naked,  suddenly  ceased  their  gambols  and 
stood  staring  at  us.  A  girl  of  about  fifteen  years  of  age 
had  just  arrived  with  a  waterskin  carried  by  a  donkey, 
and  she  began  to  let  it  run  wastefully  into  jars,  that  were 
brought  around  by  the  natives.  Their  huts  were  merely 
a  framework  of  bamboo,  covered  with  moss  or  branches 
of  trees,  to  keep  off  the  heat  of  the  sun.  Two  native 
blacksmiths  were  hammering  away  at  a  piece  of  iron  on 
a  stone  for  an  anvil.  Their  bellows  consisted  of  two  rods 
of  bamboo  with  pistons  for  pumping  air  into  the  fire  on 
the  ground.  A  few  pennies  given  to  the  children  gained 
us  the  confidence  of  the  natives,  and  Father  Perroy  asked 
them  whether  any  deer  had  been  seen  in  the  neighbor- 
hood lately. 

As  they  answered  in  the  affirmative,  I  parted  com- 
pany with  my  fellow-sportsmen  and  penetrated  into 
the  jungle  with  two  boys,  trusting  that  I  would  come 
out  again  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  Wanet- 
chaung. The  sun  had  parched  the  ground,  and  in 
some  places  fire  had  devastated  the  woods,  so  that  there 
were  many  openings.  As  the  sun  rose  higher,  the  heat 
became  intense,  but  finding' many  fresh  tracks  of  deer  I 

39 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

had  no  time  to  think  of  sunstroke,  of  which  Father  Perroy 
had  warned  me,  or  mind  the  difficulties  of  breaking 
through  the  dense  undergrowth  over  the  broken  ground. 
But  luck  was  against  me,  and  after  a  few  hours  I  had 
again  begun  to  shoot  at  the  birds,  when  suddenly  a 
deer  started  from  a  thicket  just  ahead  of  me.  My  gun 
had  just  been  emptied  of  its  charge  and  the  deer  bounded 
out  of  sight:  I  do  not  know  how  long  I  would  have  fol- 
lowed in  breathless  pursuit,  if  I  had  not  seen  Mr.  M. 
anxiously  heading  along  the  road  into  the  woods,  evi- 
dently in  search  of  me.  As  he  was  almost  entirely  deaf 
I  could  not  attract  his  attention  by  mere  shouting,  so  I 
had  to  give  up  deer  hunting  in  order  to  prevent  him  from 
making  a  dangerous  and  fruitless  search.  I  do  not  see, 
however,  what  chance  he  had  of  finding  me  in  that 
jungle,  since  I  had  left  the  road.  On  arriving  at  the 
station,  I  found  that  they  had  been  in  great  anxiety  about 
me,  thinking  that  I  had  lost  the  way  or  had  been  over- 
come by  the  heat.  The  different  birds  which  I  brought 
down,  were  treasured  up  by  the  boys  for  a  rare  meal. 
A  refreshing  showerbath  soon  removed  the  effects  of  my 
ramble  in  the  scorching  sun,  and  we  boarded  the  next 
train  to  Rangoon  with  many  hearty  adieus  from  our  rev- 
erend and  kind  Nimrod  of  the  Burmah  jungles. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FORTUNATE  DELAYS  —  MISSIONS  ETRANGERES  —  AN 
AMIABLE  HOST  —  SOME  BROTHER  INFIDELS  — 
RANGOON  SIGHTS  —  EMBARKED  WITH  A  CARGO  OF 
COLONIAL  SWELLDOM  —  PRACTICAL  HINTS. 

Our  train  made  so  many  stops,  that  we  had  small 
hope  of  arriving  in  time  for  the  steamer  Karagola. 
More  delay  was  occasioned  by  the  tardiness  of  our  gharry- 
driver.  In  consequence  we  arrived  at  the  jetty  just  in 
time  to  see  the  vast  black  hull  of  the  Karagola,  with  its 
hundreds  of  passengers,  backing  away  from  the  dock 
and  majestically  floating  out  on  the  rushing  tide.  Our 
mortification  was  great,  but  our  missing  the  boat  proved 
very  advantageous  in  the  end.  Our  baggage  had  not 
been  put  aboard,  and  we  found  it  still  on  the  Nowshera. 
Later  on  we  heard  that  the  bubonic  plague  had  broken 
out  on  the  steamer  which  we  had  missed,  and  in  that  way 
we  happily  escaped  infection,  or  at  least  a  long  quarantine 
on  an  infected  vessel.  Strange  to  say  we  missed  also 
the  next  vessel,  and,  later  on,  heard  that  she  had  broken 
her  shafts  in  mid-ocean. 

A  sampan  brought  us  with  the  swift  running  tide  to 
the  Nowshera,  where  we  secured  our  baggage,  which  we 
now  wished  to  bring  aboard  the  Matiana,  about  three 
miles  down  the  stream.  The  difficulty,  however,  was  to 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

get  there,  as  the  tide  was  rushing  up  at  a  tremendous  rate. 
Even  the  stoutest  boatman  would  be  unable  to  make  head- 
way against  so  swift  a  tide  as  that  of  the  Irawaddy.  But 
our  Hindoo  boatman  knew  a  trick  or  two;  giving  his 
boat  a  slanting  position,  he  lustily  plied  his  two  long  oars 
against  the  tide,  and  so  the  sampan  was  forced  to  cross  to 
the  other  side  of  the  stream,  about  a  mile  distant.  By 
thus  manoeuvering  we  crossed  in  a  straight  line  to  more 
quiet  waters,  on  which,  after  an  hour's  rowing,  we  reached 
the  Matiana.  Some  queer  looking  craft  we  passed  on  the 
the  way,  large  hulks,  like  canalboats,  propelled  by  a  score 
of  oars  thirty  feet  long.  Having  stored  our  baggage 
aboard  the  Matiana,  after  some  objections  from  the  stew- 
ard, we  now  found  it  easy  to  return  with  the  tide  to  the 
Park  jetty.  We  roomed  in  Evershed's  hotel,  where  we 
were  highly  disgusted  with  the  boisterous  behavior  of 
the  bar-maids,  the  rapacious  servants,  the  dirty  rooms, 
and  the  slovenly  business  management.  Yet  this  hos- 
telry was  among  the  prominent  ones  of  Rangoon. 

Next  day,  strolling  around  town  after  breakfast,  we 
happened  upon  a  building  which  looked  like  a  Catholic 
church,  and  we  entered  what  seemed  to  be  the  parsonage. 
Upon  hearing  that  we  hailed  from  the  United  States,  two 
old  men  with  flowing  beards  immediately  invited  us  to  a 
seat  on  the  porch  and  a  cooling  drink.  We  very  soon 
found  out,  that  we  had  strayed  into  an  Armenian  estab- 
lishment and  that  one  of  the  old  men  was  the  pastor,  the 
other  a  patriarch  from  Armenia  on  a  missionary  tour. 


ARMENIAN  ZEALOTS. 


This  latter,  when  he  learned  of  my  being  a  priest,  began 
to  assail  the  Catholic  church  as  having  woefully  dropped 
from  the  original  traditions  of  Christianity,  the  old 
groundless  accusation  of  non-Catholics.  True  faith,  he 
said,  is  found  only  in  the  Armenian  church.  I  believe 
that  he  was  sincere,  and  that  he  had  hopes  of  converting 
me  then  and  there  to  the  Armenian  faith.  At  first  I 
made  no  answer  nor  gainsaid  any  of  his  talk.  But  when 
I  afterward  proved  to  him  from  his  own  ritual  of  the  sacra- 
ments, that  in  most  of  them  the  form  was  essentially 
changed  and  that  therefore  they  had  hardly  any  of  the 
seven  sacraments,  and  not  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass  as  in. 
stituted  by  Christ,  peaceful  discussion  was  at  an  end. 
What  angered  him  especially  was,  that  I  acknowledged 
the  supremacy  of  the  Pope  and  my  belief  in  the  propriety 
of  priestly  celibacy.  As  he  was  an  old  man,  I  tried  to 
soothe  his  ruffled  feelings  before  leaving,  but  not  with 
any  marked  success. 

At  the  hotel  we  were  kept  waiting  two  hours  before  we 
could  get  our  charges  summed  up  for  the  purpose  of  pay- 
ing them.  Hotel  business  must  be  an  annoying  way  of 
making  a  living  in  the  Orient.  A  host  of  dark-skinned 
servants  moves  about,  who  must  be  continually  superin- 
tended and  instructed.  What  would  our  hotel  people 
do,  if  they  were  obliged  to  have  a  separate  waiter  for 
each  guest  ?  And  yet  in  spite  of  the  abundance  of  ser- 
vants, meals  will  drag  on  for  hours. 

Again  visiting  the  cathedral  after  tiffin,  I  was  invited 
43 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

to  stay  over  Sunday  and  preach  at  the  early  mass  in  Eng- 
lish, instead  of  taking  our  intended  excursion  to  Pegu. 
This  invitation  I  readily  accepted  and  spent  the  leisure 
hours  of  the  evening  in  a  visit  to  Father  Bohn,  an 
Alsatian,  who  was  in  charge  of  St.  Anthony's  parish  of 
about  8,000  Tamils.  We  found  him  directing  the  excava- 
tions, which  were  being  made  for  a  large  addition  to  the 
old  church.  He  received  us  somewhat  coolly,  until  I  ad- 
dressed him  in  German,  telling  him  that  we  came  all  the 
way  from  America.  Then  he  eagerly  invited  us  into 
his  airy  habitation  and  insisted,  that  we  return  and  par- 
take of  a  dinner  after  the  services  on  the  next  day.  That 
night,  from  the  fourth  story  windows  of  our  sleeping- 
quarters  in  the  Cathedral  residence,  we  surveyed  the 
brilliant  rows  of  arc  lights  along  the  wharfs  over  topping 
the  countless  torch  and  gas  lights  of  the  city. 

Next  morning  there  was  a  goodly  congrega- 
tion of  Eurasians  at  the  Sunday  services.  These 
are  descendants  of  mixed  Europeans  and  natives. 
They  understood  English,  of  course,  and  listened  at- 
tentively to  what  I  had  to  say  about  the  greatness,  uni- 
versality and  divine  guidance  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
At  about  eleven  o'clock  we  adjourned  with  two  of  the 
missionaries  of  the  Cathedral  parish  to  Father  Bohn's  re- 
sidence behind  St.  Anthony's  church.  Though  his  in- 
come must  be  scant,  he  treated  us  royally,  seasoning  his 
hospitality  with  the  most  amiable  and  gracious  friendli- 
ness, and  making  our  stay  with  him  a  pleasure  to  be 

44 


FATHER  BOHN. 


remembered  ever  after.  He  could  hardly  speak  above  a 
whisper,  for  he  was  in  the  last  stages  of  consumption. 
Yet  he  was  attending  to  all  the  duties  of  the  large  parish, 
and  his  dearest  ambition  was  to  get  the  new  addition  to 
the  church  finished  before  the  fell  disease  would  take 
him  off.  Two  years  ago  his  superiors  had  sent  him  to 
France  in  the  vain  hope  of  a  cure;  but  finding  that 
there  was  no  improvement,  he  wished  to  return  and  die 
in  the  midst  of  his  labors  though  far  from  friends  and 
home.  Such  is  the  spirit  of  missionaries  in  these  far-off 
countries.  During  the  dinner  and  the  hot  hours  of  the 
afternoon,  comfortably  seated  on  the  porch  and  sur- 
rounded by  the  shade  of  the  great  tropical  trees,  the 
fathers  gave  us  many  points  of  information.  Some 
articles  in  use  among  the  Negritos  of  the  Andaman 
Isles,  which  we  had  passed  on  our  way  from  Singapore, 
were  shown  us,  among  them  a  bow  and  arrow,  which 
must  have  required  great  strength  to  handle;  also  a 
woman's  dress,  which  was  nothing  else  than  a  girdle 
made  of  thin  branches  and  fringed  with  leaves  about  a 
foot  long.  This  was  considerably  better  than  what  the 
men  wear,  for  they  wear  nothing.  They  are  said  to  be 
the  most  savage  tribe  under  the  British  sway. 

Sometimes  this  tribe  is  cited  by  infidels  as  a  proof,  that 
the  belief  in  a  Supreme  Being  does  not  exist  among  all  na- 
tions. But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  even  in  their  case,  it  is  not 
true,  for  they  believe  in  evil  gods,  whom  they  try  to 
propitiate.  The  atheists  must  indeed  be  hard  up  for  an 

45 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

argument  against  the  existence  of  a  God,  when  they  cite 
such  instances  of  unbelief.  The  Negritos  of  the  An- 
damans  will,  without  great  reluctance,  be  given  up  to 
them  as  examples  of  intellectual  progress  and  enlighten- 
ment. We  would  suggest,  that  they  emigrate  to  their 
Andaman  brethren  in  the  Bengal  sea,  in  order  to  swell 
their  diminishing  numbers.  Adopting  Andaman  man- 
ners and  costumes,  their  outward  lives  would  then  per- 
haps be  more  in  harmony  with  the  doctrines  they  profess. 

Not  content  with  the  proofs  of  hospitality  which  he 
had  given  us  so  far,  Father  Bohn  took  us  out  on  a  drive 
through  Rangoon  and  its  great  park  system.  In  the 
zoological  garden,  the  most  interesting  object  was  the 
white  elephant,  which  now  stood  under  a  roof,  chained 
by  the  feet  to  the  platform.  His  fortunes  had  taken  a 
downward  course,  for  instead  of  being  the  petted  fa- 
vorite of  the  former  kings  at  Mandalay,  he  now  had  to 
make  salutes  and  genuflections  for  some  miserable  ba- 
nanas, that  the  curious  reached  out  to  him.  There  was 
a  great  variety  of  native  deer  and  frolicking  monkeys  in 
their  various  enclosures. 

We  whirled  out  on  the  fine  boulevards  to  the  munici- 
pal parks,  where  the  bonton  of  the  English  society  were 
enjoying  their  afternoon  drive  in  their  costly  carriages. 
The  lagoons  and  drive-ways  are  beautifully  laid  out  and 
every  turn  of  the  road  reveals  new  vistas  of  lawns  and 
tropical  woods.  Credit  must  be  given  to  the  English  in 
the  Orient  for  the  fine  roads  and  public  parks  in  all  the 

46 


NATIVES  EMBARKING. 


important  towns.  Of  course,  the  natives  derive  small 
benefit  from  the  parks,  though  they  are  not  excluded;  yet 
their  social  condition  hardly  fits  them  for  that  kind  of 
luxury.  Accordingly  we  met  none  of  the  poorer  class  of 
the  native  population  on  these  beautiful  grounds,  though 
some  gorgeous  turn-outs  of  a  few  rich  Mohammedans, 
Hindoos,  and  Parsees  passed  us  on  our  way.  Many  of 
the  occupants  of  the  richest  turn-outs  saluted  Father 
Bohn  as  they  passed,  and  it  seems  the  Catholic  mission- 
aries are  enjoying  the  respect  of  the  influential  class  of 
Europeans. 

We  arose  early  the  next  morning  to  board  the  Matiana 
for  Calcutta.  Arriving  at  the  jetty  of  the  British  India 
Steamship  Line,  at  which  the  steamer  was  moored,  we 
found  it  surrounded  by  a  pandemonium  of  native  passen- 
gers, each  with  bundles  of  worthless  baggage.  There 
must  have  been  at  least  four  hundred  shouting  and  jost- 
ling Burmese,  Hindoos,  Tamils,  Chinese,  Thibetans  and 
Sikhs  in  different  styles  of  clothing  and  different  stages 
of  untidiness.  A  few  hundred  of  Madrasi,  or  Indian 
soldiers,  also,  with  scarcely  more  order  than  the  rest,  and 
with  an  ill-concealed  contempt  for  the  civilian  vulgar, 
pushed  and  crowded  up  to  the  narrow  gangplanks. 
Each  had  one  or  more  packages  consisting  of  clothing, 
baskets  of  victuals,  bundles  of  wood,  and  musical  instru- 
ments. Everyone  shouted  and  pushed,  trying  to  make 
himself  understood  or  using  violent  means  to  gain  ad- 
vantageous ground  nearest  to  the  vessel.  It  was  useless 

47 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

for  us  to  try  to  get  aboard,  before  the  greater  part  of 
them  had  disappeared  over  the  bulwarks.  When  finally 
two  bridges  had  been  let  down,  a  number  of  sailors 
stood  at  the  upper  end  dealing  out  dull  resounding 
blows  on  the  heads  and  shoulders  of  the  natives  as  they 
crowded  up  too  eagerly  with  their  baggage.  Only  for 
this  restraint,  no  doubt,  a  number  of  them  would  have 
been  trodden  under  foot  by  the  frantic  crowds,  which 
pushed  up  from  behind.  Their  eagerness  to  get  aboard  was 
not  to  be  wondered  at,  since  the  first,  comers  would  be  able 
to  pick  ,out  the  most  sheltered  and  comfortable  places  on 
deck:  not  a  mean  advantage  on  a  voyage  which  would  last 
several  days.  At  length  some  of  the  boat-officers,  seeing 
us  below,  made  a  clear  passage  for  us,  and  we  were  comfort- 
ably quartered  in  first  cabin.  A  tedious  delay  of  seven 
hours  was  caused  two  miles  down  the  Irawaddy,  by  the 
tardiness  of  the  launch  that  was  to  bring  the  mail  from 
Rangoon.  However,  in  the  afternoon  the  blue  expanse  of 
the  Bengal  sea  again  encompassed  us. 

The  voyage  to  Calcutta  on  this  steamer  was  a  pleasant 
one  as  far  as  the  weather  and  the  accommodations  were 
concerned.  But  for  us  democratic  Americans  it  was  a 
dismal  failure  socially.  The  snobbishness  and  exclusive- 
ness  of  the  first-class  passengers  was  simply  nonsensical. 
Yet  one  could  have  perhaps  read  a  deeper  degradation  of 
vice  on  some  of  the  bloated  faces  of  these  aristocrats,  than 
among  the  motley  crowd  of  six  or  seven  hundred  na- 
tives huddled  together  on  the  open  deck  below.  To  what 

48 


DISGUSTING  SNOBBERY. 


antics  did  not  these  languid  men  and  women  demean  them- 
selves in  order  to  seem  to  belong  to  the  select !  Some  of  the 
men,  after  their  early  morning's  trot  in  loose  pajamas  on 
the  flooded  deck,  would  disappear  below  in  order  to  dress 
for  breakfast.  Later  on,  both  ladies  and  gentlemen  would 
lounge  on  deck,  hardly  daring  to  engage  in  conversation 
for  fear  of  committing  themselves,  and  mostly  staring  at 
the  clothes  the  others  wore.  The  half  dozen  children 
were  scarcely  noticed  by  their  languid  mothers  and  left  in 
charge  of  uniformed  servants.  A  change  of  clothes  for  tif- 
fin, or  noon  lunch,  and  an  hour's  dawdling  with  the  vict- 
uals; then  some  more  languishing  till  six  o'clock;  the 
captains  and  officers  stalking  about  like  martinets,  ever 
wary  lest  they  talk  to  any  one  below  their  station:  such 
was  the  routine  during  daytime  on  the  sunny  Bengal  sea. 
After  six  the  gong  sounded,  and  then  began  a  gen- 
eral rush  below  in  order  to  dress  for  dinner.  Fully 
an  hour  and  very  often  more,  would  pass  in  primp- 
ing, and  then  they  came  sweeping  into  the  dining 
hall,  the  ladies  in  decolletfc  and  with  a  different 
dress  every  day,  the  men  in  vast  shirt-fronts,  frock- 
coats,  all  sorts  of  inconvenient  cuffs  and  collars,  with 
diamonds  glittering  from  several  parts  of  their  outfits. 
Frock-coats,  diamonds,  and  fine  dresses  are  all  right,  it 
seems  to  me,  on  state  occasions;  but  to  wear  them  so  osten- 
tatiously and  for  such  an  ordinary  affair  as  a  dinner  on 
board  ship  seems  to  me  pitiable  insipidity.  It  could  all  be 
put  up  with  good-humoredly,  if  they  would  resort  to  this 

49 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

ostentation  in  order  to  make  the  meals  pass  more  pleas- 
antly, but  I  have  always  seen  it  produce  just  the  contrary 
effect.  Each  sits  at  table  daintily,  with  an  occasional  blase" 
smile  and  subdued  conversation  on  trivialities.  No  spon- 
taneous, hearty  laugh,  no  genial  smile,  only  glum  wariness 
and  secret  fear,  lest  any  one  outdo  him  in  glittering  show. 
Some  novelists  delight  in  painting  such  gatherings  of  high 
society  in  glowing  colors.  Of  course  they  can  afford  to  do  it : 
a  glowing  imagination  is  supposed  to  be  the  principal  stock 
in  trade  of  a  novel-writer.  But  the  performances  of  these 
people  merited  rather  the  name  of  a  refined  monkey-show 
than  an  ordinary  gathering  of  reasonable  beings  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  daily  refreshments  on  a  journey.  If 
one  happened  to  drop  into  the  bar-room  after  dinner,  some 
of  these  snobs  could  be  seen  getting  by  far  the  worst  of  the 
costly  drinks,  which  they  were  ordering. 

I  spent  a  great  deal  of  the  time  of  these  ocean-trips  in 
filling  out  my  daily  journal;  for  the  notes,  which  I  jotted 
down  into  my  vest-pocket  memorandum  book  two  or  three 
times  each  day,  were  necessarily  very  brief.  During 
this  voyage  I  went  among  the  crowds  of  natives  on 
the  lower  deck  several  times.  They  keep  up  an  incessant 
shouting,  rumbling  of  tomtoms,  jingling  of  bells,  and 
noise  of  other  instruments  more  or  less  musical.  Some- 
times the  Mohammedans  begin  to  sing  and  keep  it  up  for 
hours.  Fierce  brawls  would  arise  now  and  then  about  the 
use  of  advantageous  places  on  the  deck;  for  all  the  space 
was  filled  with  men,  women,  and  children,  most  of  whom 

50 


PRACTICAL  HINTS. 


could  not  find  room  enough  to  stretch  in  full  length  among 
the  human  and  other  baggage  littering  the  floor.  Happy 
he,  who  could  place  his  belongings  so  as  to  afford  him 
a  convenient  couch  to  rest  on.  Twice  a  day  water  for 
drinking  and  cooking  was  distributed,  and  then  the  scenes 
of  the  embarkment  were  re-enacted.  At  one  side  of  the 
deck  were  large  fireplaces,  where  these  people  could  boil 
or  roast  some  of  their  food.  However,  I  think  most  of 
them  avoided  all  exertion  of  this  kind  by  simply  remain- 
ing without  food  during  the  voyage,  or  the  greater  part 
of  it. 

PRACTICAL  HINTS.  In  order  to  stock  up  a  fair  amount  of  per- 
manent information  on  an  extended  trip,  it  is  necessary  to  keep 
some  kind  of  a  journal.  Otherwise,  only  a  confused  jumble  of 
impressions  will  remain,  which  will  eventually  become  so  distort- 
ed, that  no  particulars  will  remain  in  the  memory.  Even  with 
the  best  of  memories,  one  cannot  expect  to  keep  the  impressions 
distinct  and  separate.  There  is  no  time  for  reflection  and  com- 
parison in  the  continual  change  of  scenes.  The  best  method  is 
to  jot  down  a  few  words  on  each  salient  point  into  a  vest-pocket 
notebook  two  or  three  times  a  day.  It  is  surprising  how  much  a 
few  words  jotted  down  on  the  spot,  will  suggest,  when  one  after- 
wards, in  leisure  hours,  wishes  to  write  a  more  extended  account 
or  spend  an  hour  in  pleasing  recollections  of  the  journey.  The 
great  secret  of  remembering  personal  experiences  seems  to  lie  in 
being  able  to  follow  them  up  in  the  same  order,  in  which  they 
transpired  day  after  day  and  hour  after  hour. 

In  the  hot  countries  of  the  Orient  white  duck  suits  or  kake  are 
very  convenient  additions  to  the  wardrobe  of  the  traveler.  They 
are  light  and  cool  besides  being  durable  and  respectable.  They 
soil  easily,  it  is  true,  but  they  can  be  washed  over  and  over  again. 
For  this  reason  several  suits  should  be  procured  by  having  them 
made  to  order  by  the  native  tailors  at  the  small  outlay  of  two  or 
three  dollars  a  suit.  Pajamas,  or  loosely  fitting  suits  of  light 
cotton  flannel,  are  also  a  most  enjoyable  outfit  for  the  night  on 
board  ship.  On  English  vessels  the  deck  is  scrubbed  every 

Si 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

morning  with  sand  and  flooded  with  sea-water  from  fore  to  aft. 
Those  that  believe  in  the  salutary  effects  of  cold  water,  can  enjoy 
an  hour  of  delightful  promenading  on  the  flooded  decks  in  the 
cool  breezes  of  the  morning. 

In  China,  the  Philippines  and  Singapore,  the  Mexican  silver 
dollar  is  the  common  currency.  The  banks  will  readily  furnish 
usable  money  in  the  different  countries  at  a  small  rate  of 
exchange.  A  traveler  should  make  it  a  rule  to  ask  the  hotel- 
keeper  at  what  hour  the  hotel-day  is  supposed  to  begin  and  end, 
and  he  should  give  notice  of  his  departure  some  hours  before. 
In  most  cases  an  understanding  should  also  be  reached  in  regard 
to  charges,  as  I  suppose  that  no  one  likes  to  be  fleeced.  At  the 
time  of  departure  the  hotel-keeper  has  the  advantage  of  his 
guest,  as  he  need  not  worry  about  missing  the  train  or  the  boat. 
Have  your  baggage  brought  down  from  your  room  to  the  hotel 
office  before  the  next  hotel-day  begins,  as  otherwise  you  will 
probably  be  charged  an  extra  day,  though  you  spend  it  in 
another  city  or  hundreds  of  miles  away. 


CHAPTER  V. 

CALCUTTA  UNDER  TORCHLIGHT  —  PERSISTANT  BEGGARS 
—  UP   THE    GULCHES  OF  THE  HIMALAYAS  —  DAR- 

JEELING. 

On  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day  the  lowlands  border- 
ing the  Hoogley,  one  of  the  estuaries  of  the  sacred  Ganges 
river,  came  to  view  on  both  sides  of  the  vessel.  Calcutta 
is  some  twelve  miles  up  the  Hoogley,  but  the  passage  of 
this  short  distance  proved  a  tedious  and  lengthy  affair. 
It  was  the  first  time,  they  said,  that  such  a  large  steamer 
as  the  Matiana  had  ventured  up  so  far.  The  bottom  of 
the  river  is  continually  shifting,  and  the  steamer  came  to 
long  halts  on  the  sandbanks.  Already  in  the  forenoon  we 
passed  numerous  factories  and  large  establishments  along 
the  banks  of  the  river;  but  it  was  two  o'clock  before  the 
vessel  found  its  way  to  the  landing,  and  five  o'clock  before 
it  was  moored  to  its  jetty.  A  runner  of  the  Hotel  de  Paris 
had  climbed  over  the  bulwarks  three  hours  before  and  sin- 
gled us  out  for  customers  of  that  establishment.  Three 
hours  is  a  good  long  while  to  resist  the  importunities  of  a 
drummer,  and  proved  too  much  for  us.  We  did  not  have 
strength  enough  left  to  prevent  his  gathering  in  our  bag- 
gage and  throwing  it  on  a  carriage.  However,  agreeing 
with  the  driver  on  the  charges  for  the  ride,  the  drummer 
and  another  native  piled  into  the  carriage  with  ourselves. 

S3 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

All  of  them  tried  to  make  our  ride  as  pleasant  as 
possible  and  we  were  not  unwilling  to  enter  into  the  humor 
of  the  situation.  Of  course  they  might  bring  us  into  some 
banditti's  cave,  or  dump  us  into  the  Hoogley,  after  having 
plundered  us;  for  it  was  now  quite  dark,  and  they  said 
Calcutta  was  three  miles  off.  But  then  that  would  have 
been  too  much  like  some  of  the  encounters  read  in  novels, 
and  novelists  must  resort  to  their  imagination  for  most  of 
their  dangerous  scrapes.  At  present  it  was  worth  while 
to  see  how  far  their  naive  appropriation  of  us  would  go.  I 
was  pretty  sure  it  all  meant  only  an  additional  claim  for 
bakshish.  We  were  willing  to  let  them  take  the  risk  of 
their  getting  any,  though  we  had  made  up  our  minds  to 
set  a  limit  to  their  demands,  when  the  time  came.  They 
took  us  along  the  Eden  race  course  and  Eden  park  to  the 
Esplanade,  which  was  brilliantly  lighted  up  by  electric 
lights.  Before  going  to  the  Paris  hotel,  we  passed  the 
Jesuit  church,  facing  on  the  Esplanade,  and  inquired 
about  this  much  lauded  Hotel  de  Paris.  The  very  Rev. 
Vicar  General,  Father Marchal,  who  resides  there,  received 
us  kindly,  and,  in  regard  to  our  intended  stopping-place, 
laughingly  intimated,  that  there  was  not  much  choice 
between  that  and  most  of  the  hotels  in  the  city. 

Our  self-constituted  guardians  landed  us  in  front  of 
the  hotel  and  each  received  his  fee  according  to  strict 
agreement  beforehand,  together  with  a  moderate  tip. 
But  each  one  demanded  extras:  the  driver  because  he 
had  made  good  time,  the  hotel  runner  because  he  had 

54 


PERSISTENT  BEGGARS. 


shown  us  so  good  a  place,  and  the  lackey  because  he  had 
given  us  the  pleasure  of  his  company.  I  considered  it 
as  part  of  the  pleasantry  to  refuse:  it  would  heighten  the 
humor  of  the  situation,  if  we  showed  that  we  also  had  a 
little  of  our  own  ways  in  dealing  with  them,  as  they  had 
theirs  with  us.  The  howl  which  they  set  up,  when  we 
turned  around  and  disappeared  in  the  entrance  of  the  hotel 
was  part  of  the  comedy.  The  hotel  porter  acted  his  part 
admirably  by  simply  driving  them  away. 

The  dusky  comedians,  however,  had  seized  the  spirit 
of  the  play,  and  when  we  came  out  after  supper  to  take  a 
stroll  through  the  streets,  there  they  were,  all  ready  to 
continue  for  another  act.  They  followed  us  up  renewing 
their  beggary,  and  with  them  were  a  half  dozen  others, 
who  offered  themselves  as  guides  to  various  questionable 
places  of  amusement.  One  particularly  intrusive  raga- 
muffin insisted  on  the  special  attractions  of  his  resort, 
until  I  actually  caught  him  by  the  neck  and  threatened  to 
administer  a  sound  kick  to  convince  him  that  we  were 
not  hankering  after  any  of  their  services.  Even  with  that 
they  would  not  yet  be  convinced,  but  kept  following  us 
for  a  while  with  their  clamors. 

In  the  flaring  torchlights  of  the  open  Hindoo  shops  the 
streets  presented  a  scene  full  of  animation.  No  sooner 
would  we  come  into  the  glare  of  the  lights,  than  the  dark 
forms  of  shopkeepers  would  spring  up  and  follow  us,  try- 
ing to  induce  us  in  broken  English  to  examine  their  small 
stock  of  canes,  gaudy  caps,  handkerchiefs  and  the  like. 

55 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

Sometimes  we  had  a  half  dozen  buzzing  around  us  like 
gadflies.  After  being  thus  dogged  about  for  a  few 
hours,  we  got  the  best  of  them  by  re-entering  our  hotel, 
where  they  would  have  been  summarily  dealt  with  if 
they  ventured  to  intrude. 

We  were  not  much  pleased  with  our  hotel  quarters. 
Adjoining  the  dining  room  was  an  open  bar  where 
female  barkeepers,  in  suggestive  dress,  painted  and 
powdered,  kept  a  crowd  of  Englishmen  around  them, 
drinking  and  singing,  laughing  and  joking  with  them 
very  freely,  in  order  to  draw  the  silver  from  their  pockets. 
The  foolish  dupes  were  already  far  gone  in  drink,  and 
long  after  we  had  retired  to  the  sleeping  quarters  in  the 
annex,  we  heard  their  lolling  and  shouting  in  the  small 
hours  of  the  night.  Most  of  the  hotels  have  these  bar 
and  barmaid  attachments  in  Calcutta. 

Next  morning  we  left  a  part  of  our  baggage  in  our 
handbags  with  Cook's  agency  for  shipment  to  London; 
mine  I  never  saw  more.  When  I  called  for  it  in  London 
it  had  not  turned  up,  nor  was  it  ever  traced.  Calcutta  is 
a  city  of  about  800,000  inhabitants  and  the  residence  of 
the  Viceroy.  The  streets  in  the  European  and  business 
parts  are  mostly  grand  thoroughfares.  The  large  modern 
buildings  have  somewhat  less  of  the  peculiar  English 
colonial  style  about  them  than  those  of  other  cities  in 
India.  Much  attention  is  paid  to  the  paving  and  beauti- 
fying of  the  streets  and  of  the  parks  and  driveways.  The 
northern  half,  and  by  far  the  most  populous  portion  of 

56 


CALCUTTA. 

Calcutta  is  occupied  by  the  natives.  There,  of  course, 
narrow  streets,  with  rows  upon  rows  of  small  shops,  are 
the  rule.  Incredible  activity  prevails  in  these  quarters, 
and  one  must  wonder  where  this  stream  of  humanity 
does  find  its  lodgings.  The  houses  are  small  and  scarcely 
fit  for  human  habitation.  Horse-cars  run  through  some 
of  the  most  crowded  streets.  These  latter  are  so  narrow 
that  the  passengers  could  reach  the  goods  exposed  in  the 
open  shops  from  the  cars.  They  move  along  little  faster 
than  a  walk,  as  they  must  pick  their  way  through  the 
throngs  of  people. 

A  dark-skinned  Malay,  in  white  turban  and  cotton 
sheet  around  his  middle,  had  been  shadowing  us  since 
last  night,  and  without  ceremony  took  his  seat  aside  of  the 
driver  whenever  we  engaged  a  carriage.  Now  and  then 
he  would  offer  to  assist  us  or  busy  himself  in  seeming  to 
give  instructions  to  our  driver.  Whenever  we  alighted 
he  stood  on  the  pavement,  waiting  for  us,  or  following  us 
on  our  business  calls.  We  had  not  taken  much  notice  of 
him,  but  we  asked  Father  Marchal,  in  passing,  to  find  out 
for  us  what  he  wanted.  The  mystery  was  soon  cleared  up 
for  he  informed  us  laughingly :  "  He  has  established  him- 
self as  your  servant  and  bodyguard  and  will  ask  for  his 
wages  when  you  leave  town. ' '  We  hastened  to  get  rid  of 
such  a  useless  hanger-on  by  paying  him  a  small  sum  and 
intimating  that  his  self-imposed  task  was  not  acceptable. 

In  the  afternoon  we  pushed  our  way  through  the 
throngs  at  the  Sealdah  railroad  station  in  order  to  board 

57 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

a  train  for  Darjeeling  in  the  Himalaya  mountains.  For 
the  first  thirty  or  forty  miles  the  train  passes  through  a 
well  cultivated  country,  where  picturesque  villages  are 
nestled  under  high  palm  trees.  Beyond  that,  to  the 
mountains,  is  a  treeless  prairie,  which  no  doubt  is  to  a 
great  extent  under  water  in  the  rainy  season.  On  this 
account  it  is  well  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  rice.  In 
the  morning  we  arrived  at  Siliguri  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains. 

Instead  of  rice  plantations  tea  and  coffee  plantations 
are  now  seen  and  cover  the  rising  hill-slopes  on  both 
sides  of  the  railroad.  A  train  of  diminutive  cars  stood 
ready  in  Siliguri  to  take  us  over  a  narrow  gauge 
8,000  feet  up  into  the  mountains.  The  cars  were  not 
more  than  ten  or  twelve  feet  long,  and  the  locomotives 
seemed  like  toy  engines.  The  mountains  rise  abruptly 
from  the  plain,  so  that  it  seems  impossible  for  a  train  of 
cars  to  find  a  passage.  But  the  two  little  engines  soon 
began  to  puff  bravely  upward  into  the  mountain  gorges, 
which  from  the  distance  had  not  been  visible.  The  grade 
is  mostly  as  much  as  one  foot  to  twelve,  and  in  some  places 
one  to  ten.  The  curves  are  so  short,  that  longer  cars 
would  be  entirely  impracticable.  The  road  through 
these  mountains  is  indeed  a  remarkable  engineering  feat. 
The  Union  Pacific,  the  Colorado  Midland,  and  the  Rio 
Grande  rise  to  a  much  higher  altitude  in  the  Rocky 
mountains  on  tracks  of  the  ordinary  gage.  But  the 
Rocky  mountains  do  not  rise  so  abruptly  as  the 

58 


ZIGZAG  ROADS. 


mountain  spurs  of  the  Himalaya.  These  tapering  peaks 
necessitate  some  remarkably  narrow  loops,  some  of  them 
not  over  300  feet  in  diameter.  In  several  places  the  cars 
cross  and  recross  their  path  several  times,  so  that  from 
the  car  windows  stretches  of  the  iron  road  can  be  seen  in 
many  curves  and  complete  loops  along  the  mountain 
ridges  hundreds  of  feet  below.  The  zigzaging  of  the 
road  was  well  illustrated  at  Dindaria,  3,800  feet  altitude, 
where  a  score  of  native  children  ran  alongside  of  the  slowly 
climbing  train,  clamoring  for  pennies.  Suddenly  they 
disappeared  behind  a  ridge,  but  when  the  train  had  made 
a  spurt  of  about  five  miles  at  a  faster  rate,  there  the  whole 
crowd  of  them  appeared  again  with  the  same  clamors. 

We  at  first  wondered  at  their  marvelous  running,  until 
we  saw  that  they  had  merely  climbed  a  hill  and  thus 
headed  off  the  train.  How  these  little  urchins  shouted 
in  exuberant  glee,  when  we  threw  them  a  few  paras,  and 
how  they  scrambled  all  in  a  heap  to  pick  them  up !  On 
two  places  the  grade  would  have  been  too  steep  for  any 
kind  of  a  loop.  Here  the  engineers  had  resorted  to  a 
series  of  straight  runs,  where  the  train  is  switched  back- 
ward and  forward  up  the  mountain  wall.  I  doubt,  how- 
ever, whether  any  American  engineer  or  railroad  manage- 
ment would  be  satisfied  with  such  a  makeshift,  for  the 
switching  to  and  fro  took  up  much  time.  At  Mahamuddy 
or  Big  River,  a  magnificent  view  of  the  meeting  of  the 
two  great  rivers  that  form  the  Brahmaputra,  deep  down 
in  a  vast  plain,  broke  upon  our  view. 

59 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

At  Kurseong,  where  we  had  lunch,  the  elevation  is 
7,464  feet.  Here  Father  Naish,  a  Jesuit,  boarded  the  train, 
seemingly  on  the  lookout  for  some  students  returning 
from  a  vacation.  At  Ghoom,  which  is  the  highest  point 
of  the  road,  8,800  feet  above  the  sea,  he  showed  us  the 
witch  of  Ghoom,  an  old  woman  past  her  hundredth  year 
and  always  on  hand  to  collect  pennies  from  the  passengers. 
In  her  outward  appearance  she  does  full  justice  to  her 
name,  in  which  she  takes  a  great  deal  of  pride.  I  caught 
a  snapshot  of  her  as  she  linked  her  arm  in  that  of  my 
bachelor  companion,  and  many  times  afterward  that  good 
man  had  to  stand  a  bantering  joke  on  the  woman  he  had 
at  last  found.  From  Ghoom  the  train  descended  several 
hundred  feet  to  Darjeeling,  seven  miles  off.  The  road 
winds  gracefully  down  the  mountain  sides,  following  the 
gulches  near  the  summits.  During  last  September  heavy 
rains  had  caused  many  landslides  in  this  neighborhood. 
Many  portions  of  the  road  had  been  washed  away  or 
buried  beneath  earth  and  stones.  Repairs  had  not  been 
finished  up  to  this  time  ( in  March ),  so  the  train  could 
not  quite  proceed  to  its  terminal  station  in  Darjeeling. 
All  passengers  were  obliged  to  walk  or  ride  with  their 
baggage  two  miles  to  town.  One  of  the  noisy  carriers 
took  charge  of  our  small  satchels  and  brought  us  to  the 
Russel  villa.  Far  above  in  the  vault  of  heaven  hazy  mists 
had  gathered  over  the  vast  mountain  regions  in  the  direction 
of  Mount  Everest  and  the  Kinchinchinja  range.  Below 
us,  on  the  projecting  ledges  and  in  the  furrowed  ravines 

60 


ON  THE   BRAHMAPUTRA 


DARJEELING. 

of  the  steep  mountain  side,  hung  in  scattered  groups  the 
houses  and  public  buildings  of  Darjeeling.  So  steep  wag 
this  town-site,  that  one  almost  expected  it  every  moment 
to  break  loose  and  slide  down  bodily  to  the  immense 
depth  of  the  valley  below.  Darjeeling  is  comparatively 
a  new  town,  the  great  summer  resort  of  Bengal  and  east- 
ern provinces  of  India.  The  greater  part  of  it  consists 
of  hotels  and  summer  villas  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  strangers  that  stay  during  the  hot  weather.  There  is 
no  native  quarter,  though  many  natives  from  the  sur- 
rounding country  daily  gather  to  do  business  in  the 
market-place. 

After  a  slight  repast,  we  strolled  along  the  fine  resi- 
dences behind  the  Episcopal  church  up  to  the  highest 
point  of  the  mountain  on  which  Darjeeling  is  built.  This 
is  called  Observatory  hill,  and  rises  to  quite  a  height  on 
the  northern  outskirts  of  the  city.  From  this  eminence 
one  surveys  the  vast  abysses  of  the  surrounding  valleys, 
the  bottoms  of  which  are  lost  to  view  in  the  immense  depths 
below.  This  summit  must  have  been  a  noted  place  of 
worship  in  former  times.  Even  now  several  altars  were 
remaining  and  a  number  of  natives  were  performing  their 
prayers  and  religious  rites  toward  the  setting  sun.  The 
trees  on  the  summit  were  hung  with  hundreds  of  vari- 
colored cloths  and  streamers,  whereby  the  Nepalese  try 
to  propitiate  the  malicious  spirits.  These  Nepalese 
mountaineers  are  more  strongly  built,  of  a  lighter  com- 
plexion, but  also  less  handsome  than  the  people  on  the 

61 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

plains.  I  thought  they  bore  a  great  resemblance  to  the 
American  Indians.  The  women  do  most  of  the  hard 
work.  We  met  many  of  them  carrying  heavy  loads  sus- 
pended by  a  band,  which  runs  around  their  foreheads 
and  passes  under  the  load  on  their  backs.  They  are  but 
scantily  clad,  some  of  the  children  not  all.  They  seem 
of  a  proud  and  independent  spirit,  bearing  English  rule 
with  suppressed  ill  will.  We  met  no  Nepalese  beggars, 
though  their  poverty  must  be  great. 

From  our  elevated  position  we  distinguished  the 
Catholic  cathedral  and  the  Bishop's  residence  among  the 
straggling  houses  of  the  town  far  below  us.  Thither  we 
went,  as  I  wanted  to  celebrate  mass  on  the  next  day,  Sun- 
day. But  for  some  reason  or  other,  Father  Naish,  the 
Jesuit,  who  was  in  charge  during  the  absence  of  the  Bishop 
received  my  request  rather  coldly,  but  could  not  well 
refuse  after  I  had  shown  him  the  necessary  legitimate 
documents. 

At  our  lodgings  we  were  the  only  guests.  Mine  host 
and  his  family  were  staunch  Calvinists,  and  they  seemed 
ill  at  ease  to  have  a  Catholic  priest  sitting  at  the  same 
table  with  them.  Their  behavior  was  very  formal  and 
circumstantial.  But  a  few  times  during  our  stay,  when 
some  of  their  relatives  had  increased  the  dinner  party, 
they  began  to  discuss  religious  topics  in  a  very  tentative 
manner.  I  held  my  peace,  until  they  began  to  make  the 
most  absurd  statements  concerning  the  practices  of 
Catholic  nuns  in  the  orphanages.  One  of  the  wise- 

62 


OUR  CALVTNIST  HOSTS. 


acres  maintained,  that  the  sisters  ordinarily  baptize  the 
children  in  their  charge  by  sprinkling  holy  water  over 
them.  They  were  surprised  to  hear  from  me,  that 
sisters  had  no  right  to  baptize  any  children  under  their 
charge,  except  in  danger  of  death;  and  that  sprinkling 
holy  water  over  the  children  at  night  or  in  the  morning 
was  not  baptizing. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

To  TIGER  MOUNT  —  THE  GLEAMING  SNOWS  01 
EVEREST  AND  KINCHINCHINJA  —  RUSSEL  VILLA  — 
ZIGZAGGING  DOWN  TO  THE  PLAINS. 

All  visitors  to  Darjeeling  anxiously  scan  the  heavens 
every  day  to  see,  whether  there  will  be  any  chance  of  get- 
ting a  clearer  view  of  Mount  Everest  and  the  wonderful 
Kinchinchinja  range  in  the  north.  Vast  clouds  of  vapor 
generally  hide  these  mountains  from  view,  even  in  the 
clearest  weather.  So  it  often  happens,  that  visitors  must 
depart  from  Darjeeling  after  a  stay  of  many  weeks  without 
having  seen  the  summits  of  the  Himalayas.  But  we  were 
more  fortunate.  The  next  day  was  an  ideal  Sunday, 
and,  as  we  climbed  up  to  the  villa  after  the  morning 
services  in  the  cathedral,  the  intensely  white  tips  of  the 
Himalaya  range  gleamed  down  from  the  blue  vault  of  the 
northern  firmament.  We  at  once  resolved  to  make  our 
previously  discussed  excursion  to  Senchal  and  Tiger 
mountain.  These  are  eight  miles  off,  and  from  their  tops 
the  most  favorable  view  of  the  whole  range  can  be  had. 
Even  before  we  had  entirely  left  Darjeeling,  the  vastness 
of  this  mountain  scenery  was  dimly  revealed  to  us.  The 
morning  sun,  rising  over  the  dark  walls  of  mountains  in 
the  northeast,  lent  its  own  dazzling  brightness  to  that 
barrier  of  snowclad  peaks,  forming  a  scene  never  to 

65 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

be  effaced  from  the  mind 's  imagery.  Between  us  and 
the  distant  peaks,  as  we  first  sighted  them  from  the  high 
ledge  on  which  we  stood,  lay  a  vast  sea  of  mist,  which 
rose  up  almost  to  a  level  of  our  vantage  ground  and 
covered  the  valleys  and  the  lower  mountains  of  the  sixty 
miles  of  intervening  region.  Only  here  and  there  a  few 
higher  cones  rose  mysteriously,  forming  landmarks  in 
the  misty  sea. 

Encouraged  by  this  magnificent  glimpse,  we  walked 
briskly  onward  in  the  fresh  morning,  past  sunny  pro- 
jections and  shady  recesses  of  the  mountain-side,  hoping 
that  the  clear  weather  would  last  until  we  could  reach 
Tiger  hill.  After  climbing  over  the  mountain  ridge 
east  of  Darjeeling,  the  British  cantonment  came  into 
full  view.  On  the  mountain  plateau  some  of  the  British 
soldiers  in  their  red  uniforms  were  drilling,  while  others 
were  moving  about  patrolling  the  enclosures.  We  were 
not  particularly  pleased  to  see  groups  of  natives  along  the 
road  to  Ghoom  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Darjeeling 
busily  engaged  in  building  or  repairing  the  roads  on  the 
Lord's  day.  The  roads  in  these  mountains  are  nearly  all 
footpaths  or  bridlepaths,  cut  into  the  steep  mountain- 
sides and  winding  upward  and  downward  in  every  direc- 
tion. As  the  mountains  are  very  steep,  a  great  many 
abutments  in  the  frequent  ravines  are  a  necessity.  These 
are  built  mostly  of  stones,  that  support  the  narrow  ledge 
of  the  pathway.  Women  work  at  these  roads  as  well  as 
men;  in  fact,  the  women  carry  the  heavy  stones  and 

66 


GHOOM. 

sacks  of  earth,  while  the  men  do  the  laying.  We  would 
have  been  much  more  satisfied  to  see  them  enjoying  their 
Sunday  rest.  As  we  walked  along  the  sunny  side  of  the 
mountain,  its  towering  cliffs  rose  at  our  elbow  to  the 
right,  while  the  bottomless  abyss  yawned  to  our  left. 
Deep  down  in  the  valleys  could  be  distinguished  here 
and  there  the  huts  of  the  natives,  so  engulfed  in  their 
abysses,  that  one  wonders  how  the  inhabitants  will  ever 
find  their  way  up  into  the  sunlight. 

The  market  of  Ghoom,  which  is  nothing  else  than 
the  principal  street  of  the  village,  was  crowded  with 
natives,  who  were  moving  or  lounging  about  the  primitive 
shops  on  both  sides.  From  here  the  road  winds  sharply 
up  through  beautiful  woods  to  the  top  of  Senchal  and  the 
still  higher  Tiger  mountain.  On  the  plateau  of  Mount 
Senchal  were  numerous  pillars  of  stone  masonry,  which 
at  first  we  took  to  be  ruins  of  old  temples.  But  they  were 
only  the  remains  of  the  British  garrison  buildings,  that 
formerly  occupied  this  ground  before  it  was  moved  to 
Darjeeling. 

Ghoom  was  formerly  the  headquarters  of  the  English 
invading  army;  but  being  found  unhealthy  on  account 
of  its  exposure  on  the  mountain-height,  it  was  removed 
to  Darjeeling.  The  immense  barracks,  on  account  of 
exposure  to  wind  and  rain  in  these  climates,  are  now 
crumbling  into  ruin.  A  bungalow,  or  lodging  house,  on 
the  summit  of  Mount  Senchal  showed  little  signs  of  use, 
for  the  summer  visitors  to  Darjeeling  were  only  beginning 

67 


.    O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

to  arrive.  In  a  small  hut  behind  it,  a  native  woman  was 
crouching  over  an  open  fire,  which  smouldered  between 
two  stones.  She  was  cooking  rice  and  passively  per- 
mitted our  intrusion.  Probably  she  knew,  that  the  thick 
smoke  would  soon  drive  us  away,  without  any  waste  of 
words  on  her  part.  After  a  climb  of  two  or  more  miles, 
we  reached  the  summit  of  Tiger  mount,  which,  except 
where  the  narrow  ridge  connects  it  with  Senchal,  is  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  deep  abysses  and  affords  a  mag- 
nificent view. 

The  sight  that  burst  upon  us  beggars  description. 
Some  hundred  feet  below  the  place  on  which  we  stood, 
the  vast  ocean  of  mist  still  brooded.  It  hid  the  deep  abysses 
and  the  lower  mountain  tops  all  the  way  up  to  the  heaven- 
piercing  mountain  chains  in  the  north.  There,  in  the 
distance  to  the  left,  like  an  aspiring  cone  of  burnished 
silver,  gleamed  the  snowy  heights  of  Everest  in  the 
forenoon  sunlight,  while  from  it  the  rows  of  lower 
peaks,  forming  the  great  Kinchinchinja  range,  stretched 
away  to  the  sunny  east,  a  dazzling  wall  of  crystal, 
rising  to  the  blue  vault  of  heaven. 

Everest  is  29,002  feet  above  sea-level,  and  is  separated 
from  the  Kinchinchinja  or  Butan  range  by  a  gigantic  gap. 
From  its  top  we  could  faintly  trace  a  dark  streak,  which 
was  no  doubt  the  shaded  portion  of  a  great  chasm,  dis- 
appearing in  the  misty  mountain  regions  at  its  base.  The 
blue  heavens  showed  in  the  immense  gap  between 
Everest  and  Kinchinchinja  to  the  right.  The  clear, 

68 


MT.  EVEREST. 


cut  lines  and  sheer  ascent  of  Kinchinchinja  then  again 
shut  out  heaven's  blue,  and  rising  up  to  a  height  of  28,1 76 
feet,  it  leads  the  succession  of  snow-clad  monsters  toward 
the  right,  a  gleaming  causeway  from  the  earth  to  the 
eastern  heavens.  Although  we  were  sixty  miles  south, 
yet  the  broken  ridges,  the  sweeping  plateaus  of  eternal 
snow,  the  abyssmal  precipices  of  these  mountains  were 
faintly  outlined  on  the  resplendent  walls,  while  peak 
upon  peak  flashed  back  their  zigzag  contours  like 
streaks  of  lightning,  where  they  met  the  sunlight's  golden 
glory  and  the  ethereal  blue  of  the  sky. 

The  vastness  of  this  mountain-scenery  is  overawing, 
and  the  dazzling  splendor  reflected  from  their  everlasting 
snowfields  is  like  a  revelation  of  celestial  light.  Man 
sinks  into  involuntary  silence,  acknowledging  his  littleness, 
when  such  magnificence  of  God's  creation  flashes  on  his 
gaze  even  at  many  miles'  distance.  Human  foot  has  never 
trod,  nor  will  ever  tread,  those  gleaming  summits.  In 
solitary  splendor  they  reach  into  unapproachable 
heights,  where  not  even  the  soaring  flight  of  the  eagle 
or  the  vulture  dares  venture.  Fleecy  clouds  hover  over 
these  mountain-tops,  hiding  them  from  human  gaze  most 
of  the  time.  Even  on  such  a  clear  day  as  we  were  favored 
with,  the  changing  clouds  often  blended  with  the  snows 
of  the  broken  peaks. 

Not  less  grandly  awful  were  the  immediate  surround- 
ings. For  the  world  around  seemed  as  if  visited  by  a 
vast  flood  of  mist,  above  which  only  the  dark  mountain- 

69 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

tops  of  the  nearer  ranges  peered  like  islands,  forming 
landmarks  to  the  great  white  mountain  barrier  in 
the  north.  At  our  feet  the  mysterious  depths  of  the 
surrounding  valleys  yawned,  so  that  it  seemed  as  if  a 
few  steps  would  plunge  us  into  unknown  abysses  many 
miles  down.  The  houses  of  Darjeeling  gleamed  in  the 
noonday  sun  on  the  mountain-top  just  above  the  insidious 
mist,  while  nearer  to  our  right  lay  the  dwindling  huts  of 
Ghoom.  As  the  noon  hour  progressed,  vast  white 
clouds  gradually  began  to  envelop  the  top  of  Mount 
Everest  and  the  Kinchinchinja  range,  reminding  us  how 
fortunate  we  had  been  in  obtaining  even  a  passing 
glance  at  the  grandest  mountain-scenery  in  the  world. 
In  our  descent  from  the  woody  mountain  the  freshness 
of  the  morning  had  given  way  to  the  noonday  heat,  and 
we  arrived  just  too  late  to  take  the  train  from  Ghoom  to 
Darjeeling.  The  only  resource  left  was  to  walk  the 
seven  miles,  and  we  chose  the  western  side  of  the  moun- 
tain ridge  on  which  Darjeeling  is  built.  About  two 
miles  from  town  we  fell  in  with  a  certain  Mr.  Grunt, 
who,  with  another  student,  was  just  finishing  his  studies 
for  the  secular  priesthood  in  the  Jesuit  seminary  at 
Darjeeling.  These  two  will  be  the  first  secular  priests  in 
the  diocese  of  Calcutta.  There  are  few  secular  priests  in 
India,  for  the  missions  are  all  in  the  hands  of  the  religious 
orders.  The  fathers  of  the  Missions  Etrangeres,  of  all 
the  priests  I  met  in  the  eastern  countries,  seem  to  me  to 
come  nearest  to  the  real  ideals  of  missionary  laborers, 

7o 


RUSSEL  VILLA. 


Though  tired  of  our  jaunt  of  sixteen  miles,  we  went 
down  to  the  cathedral  to  attend  evening  service  at  about 
half  past  five  o'clock.  There  was  a  large  attendance, 
mostly  Europeans  and  Eurasians,  the  greater  part  of 
whom  must  have  been  non-Catholics.  Not  far  from 
the  church,  on  the  market  place,  the  native  buyers  and 
sellers  swarmed,  winding  up  their  day's  business. 
Most  of  the  petty  dealers  have  their  heaps  of  merchandise 
spread  on  mats  at  any  convenient  corner  or  spot,  while 
they  themselves  are  squatting  near,  awaiting  customers. 
As  the  sun  sank  behind  the  mountains,  they  gathered 
together  their  wares  in  great  bundles  and  walked  away. 
Coolies  with  brooms  of  splintered  bamboo  invaded 
the  large  area  from  all  sides  and  began  to  sweep  the 
grounds,  enveloping  those  that  still  remained  in 
dense  clouds  of  dust.  Our  host  of  Russel  villa  observed 
the  Sabbath  in  strict  Puritan  style,  allowing  no  sort  of 
game,  and  retiring  early.  This  was  not  an  unwelcome 
arrangement  for  us  after  our  strenuous  mountain  climb- 
ing. Shortly  after  supper  our  Protestant  hosts  were 
thrown  into  a  flurry  by  the  appearance  of  the  Jesuit 
priest,  Father  Naish,  in  propria  persona.  Happily  for 
them,  he  did  not  stay  longer  than  a  few  minutes  and 
made  no  attempt  to  ensnare  them  in  any  of  his  popish 
plots.  He  merely  brought  us  a  notice  from  the  post 
office,  that  the  spectacle  frames,  ordered  in  Calcutta,  had 
arrived  and  were  held  until  called  for.  To  their 
surprise  he  bade  them  good  evening,  just  like  any  other 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

chance  visitor,  and  left  without  seeming  even  to  desire 
special  intercourse  with  them.  But  then  who  knows 
what  were  really  his  designs ?  These  Jesuits  are  so  deep, 
don't  you  know. 

We  could  not  resist  the  desire  to  enjoy  some  more  of 
the  grand  scenery  afforded  by  the  magnificent  mountains 
round  about.  Early  morning  found  us  therefore  cheerily 
climbing  around  the  northwestern  spur  of  the  mountain 
on  which  Darjeeling  is  built.  After  leaving  the  fine 
villas  along  the  smooth  carriage  road  behind  us,  our 
way  led  us  through  breezy  forests  on  the  mountain-side 
at  the  brink  of  the  encircling  abyss,  to  the  Jesuit  college 
of  St.  Joseph.  It  is  built  on  a  spur  of  the  mountain, 
which  has  been  leveled  so  as  to  form  a.  spacious  plateau. 
Below  it  yawns  the  dark  green  valley;  above  it,  as  seen 
from  the  road,  seem  to  hang  the  vast  snows  of  the 
Kinchinchinja  range,  half  buried  in  the  dazzling  clouds. 
Like  a  fairy  vision  the  graceful  buildings  of  the  college 
thus  lay  at  a  distance,  between  the  mysterious  dark  green 
of  the  valleys  below  and  the  brilliant  white  of  the  snow 
and  cloud-capped  mountains  in  the  ethereal  blue  of  the 
skies.  It  must  be  an  ideal  place  for  students  in  India. 

The  road,  which  we  chose  for  our  return  to  Russel  villa, 
had  been  completely  washed  away  along  many  stretches. 
Very  often  we  had  to  scramble  on  hands  and  feet,  up 
and  down  the  steep  sides,  catching  hold  of  roots  and 
projecting  rocks,  in  order  not  to  tumble  thousands  of 
feet  down  the  sheer  inclines  to  the  bottom  of  the  abysses. 

72 


CIRCLING  DOWNWARD. 


Where  the  path  was  still  intact,  it  led,  in  winding  courses, 
now  into  the  shady  gulches,  then  out  over  some  exposed 
cliff,  affording  immense  views  of  towering  mountains 
and  fathomless  valleys  round  about.  How  sorry  were 
we  that  we  must  even  to-day  leave  such  romantic  scenery 
and  exchange  the  cool  mountain  breezes  for  the  sultry 
heat  of  the  plains.  But,  like  in  the  journey  of  life,  on- 
ward we  must,  since  only  a  certain  space  of  fleeting 
time  is  allotted  for  this  our  journey  as  well  as  for  life's 
earthly  pilgrimage. 

As  the  pigmy  train  wound  in  and  out  of  the  gulches 
of  Darjeeling  to  Ghoom  station,  the  grand  Himalayas 
came  several  times  into  full  view,  though  some  of  their 
tops  were  hidden  by  passing  clouds.  Then  having 
left  Ghoom  behind,  down  we  rumbled,  rather  more 
slowly  than  we  came  up  (for  there  are  timid  engineers 
at  the  levers  of  these  engines  in  the  Himalayas):  the 
same  short  curves,  crossing  and  recrossing  the  tracks 
over  the  maze  of  loops  encircling  the  mountain  tops. 
At  Mahamuddy  the  view  was  more  extensive  and  clear 
than  on  Saturday  last;  vastly  the  river  bottoms  spread 
out  far  beneath.  No  doubt  all  these  sandy  streaks  are 
raging  seas  in  the  rainy  season.  The  train  here  makes 
a  semicircular  sweep  of  fifty  miles  skirting  the  mountain- 
ridge.  Along  the  whole  distance  the  vast  amphitheatre 
of  bottom  lands  spreads  out  in  the  depths  below  to  the 
opposing  mountain  walls  in  the  dim  distance.  The 
zigzag  switching  of  Dindaria  was  visible  in  the  distant 

73 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

curve  of  the  ridge  ahead.  On  the  verge  of  the  mountain 
country,  miles  and  miles  of  tea  and  coffee  plantations 
stretched  out  to  the  right  and  left.  At  setting  of  the  sun 
we  were  again  on  the  sultry  plains  of  Siliguri,  rapidly 
leaving  the  towering  mountains  behind  us. 

The  ground  was  parched  and  cracked  with  drought. 
Not  so  in  the  rainy  season,  for  then  the  greater  part 
of  these  vast  plains  are  flooded.  At  Jerapur,  near 
the  foot  of  the  mountains,  rainfall  during  the  year  has 
reached  500  inches:  140  is  very  ordinary;  instances 
of  30  inches  of  rain  in  24  hours  have  occurred.  As  we 
rolled  along  the  moonlit  plains,  the  whole  reg:on 
seemed  afire  with  the  gleam  of  myriads  of  lightning  bugs. 
They  sported  in  countless  hosts  around  the  solitary 
bushes  and  trees,  above  the  dried-out  grasses  and 
over  the  stagnant  pools  of  water  along  the  road. 
Sunrise  revealed  to  us  the  vast  floods  of  the  Brahmaputra 
rolling  by  on  their  eager  journey  from  the  Himalayas 
to  the  Bengal  sea 


74 


CHAPTER  VTI. 

ON  THE  BRAHMAPUTRA  —  WEIRD  Music — NARANGUIA 
— IN  A  DACCA  BUNGALOW  —  SAUCY  CROWS. 

On  account  of  some  misunderstanding,  we  missed 
the  fast  train  to  Calcutta,  and  therefore  were  obliged  to 
to  take  a  slow  train.  This  entailed  also  a  long  delay  in 
Calcutta  in  waiting  for  the  night  train  to  Dacca,  whither 
we  had  concluded  to  make  our  next  excursion.  Bishop 
Hurth,  formerly  stationed  at  Notre  Dame  University, 
Indiana,  now  resided  there,  and  we  had  with  us  letters  of 
introduction  from  Dr.  Fitte  of  that  institution. 

Nine  o'clock  found  us  again  on  the  train,  rolling 
through  the  bright  moonlight  to  Poradaha  station  and 
Goalundo  ghat,  where  we  were  to  board  a  river  steamer 
for  Naranguia. 

Accordingly  in  the  morning,  we  were  on  board  the 
Condor,  steaming  downward  with  the  current  of  the 
Brahmaputra.  So  wide  is  this  river,  that  not  unfrequently 
the  opposite  banks  are  hardly  in  sight.  Islands  several 
miles  long  and  white  gleaming  sandbanks  often  divide 
the  rushing  water,  and  the  boat  made  many  detours  to 
find  the  deeper  channels  or  to  land  and  take  up  passengers 
and  goods.  The  natives  seem  to  be  great  travelers. 
Railroads  and  steamers  are  generally  crowded  with  native 
passengers,  who,  of  course,  ride  third  or  fourth  class. 

7? 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

There  were  always  a  few  hundred  of  them  on  board  the 
Condor  during  the  day,  for  though  many  would  disem- 
bark at  the  different  ghats,  an  equal  number  would  come 
aboard.  As  a  mere  plank  was  thrown  out  from  the  edge 
of  the  low  deck  on  to  the  sandy  bank,  several  of  the  natives 
fell  into  the  water  with  their  bundles  while  boarding 
or  leaving  the  steamer. 

The  deck  hands  are  mostly  Laskars,  a  noisy  crowd, 
requiring  continual  supervision.  They  handled  their 
brother  natives,  who  took  passage  on  the  steamer,  with 
little  consideration,  and  even  among  themselves  and  with 
the  petty  native  officers  on  board,  they  often  fell  to  wran- 
gling. The  captain  and  the  higher  English  officers  hold 
themselves  aloof  from  intercourse  with  the  natives  as  much 
as  possible.  Their  imperious  commands  are  promptly 
obeyed,  and  no  one  dares  to  show  any  sign  of  disrespect. 

The  most  intelligent  and  well-favored  of  the  natives 
in  India  are  the  natives  of  Bengal  and  the  Tamils,  hail- 
ing from  the  southern  part  of  India.  Many  of  the  former 
are  well  educated  and  hold  positions  in  large  business 
concerns  and  in  the  government.  Muslin  forms  by  far 
the  greater  part  of  native  garments.  As  regards  color,  a 
dull  gray  is  easily  -in  the  lead  of  all  others.  It  is  pro- 
duced by  the  oldest  and  most  widespread  method  of 
dyeing  in  all  countries:  namely  by  keeping  soap  and 
clean  water  at  a  distance.  The  ordinary  way  of 
dressing  for  men  and  women  is  to  pass  an  oblong 
sheet  of  muslin  around  the  middle  and  then  between 

76 


WEIRD  MINSTRELSY. 


the  legs,  so  as  to  cover  both  thighs.  The  lower  limbs 
are  mostly  bare.  One  end  of  the  sheet  is  often  used 
to  throw  over  one  or  both  shoulders.  Women  as  a  rule 
have  an  extra  piece  of  cloth  to  cover  their  breast  and  a 
kind  of  large  shawl  to  throw  over  their  heads. 

The  rear  part  of  the  upper  deck  of  the  Condor  was 
portioned  off  for  the  native  passengers.  A  motley 
crowd  was  lazily  lying  around  on  deck,  conversing  in 
groups  or  silently  smoking  their  pipes.  A  native  minstrel 
tried  to  draw  forth  the  unwilling  pennies  from  the  pockets 
of  his  hearers  by  such  screeching  and  monotonous  sounds 
as  his  primitive  fiddle  and  bow  could  produce.  It  was 
an  odd  shaped  instrument,  carved  out  of  a  single  piece  of 
jackwood  and  all  battered  from  age  and  wear.  It  was 
fitted  with  three  silk  strings,  tuned  a  fifth  apart.  Scrap- 
ing over  these  strings  with  a  short  horsehair  bow,  he 
elicited  a  woebegone  minor  accompaniment  to  a  song 
concerning  the  love  of  a  certain  Krishna  and  Radica. 
A  circle  of  listeners  would  now  and  then  fall  in  with  the 
refrain  of  a  verse  in  equally  doleful  tones.  Curious  to 
know  more  about  the  minstrel  and  his  music,  I  jumped 
over  the  barrier  and  joined  the  group.  The  song  was 
not  without  some  affecting  passages,  as  his  native  listen- 
ers sometimes  clapped  their  hands  and  joined  in  the 
chorus  with  great  spirit.  The  minstrel  however  seemed 
to  thrive  little  on  his  art,  for  he  looked  the  picture  of 
poverty.  His  grey  hair  dangled  in  disheveled  locks  from 
his  neck,  and  his  face  seemed  pinched  with  hunger. 

77 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

The  melody  was  almost  a  continual  repetition  of  the 
following: 


Jj 


It  was  a  gala  performance  for  him  today  neverthe- 
less, for  instead  of  the  miserable  paras  to  the  value 
of  half  a  cent,  which  he  had  expected  to  draw  out 
of  the  reluctant  pockets  of  his  native  audience,  he  was 
gladdened  by  the  two  shining  rupees  of  silver  which  I 
thought  I  ought  to  pay  for  the  entertainment.  One  of 
the  better  informed  listeners  began  to  talk  in  broken 
English  about  their  religion.  It  seems  that  many  of  those 
that  come  in  contact  with  Europeans  have  exchanged 
their  Buddhism  or  Brahmanism  for  a  sort  of  atheism. 

The  native  boats  on  the  rivers  of  India  are  a  com- 
bination of  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  junks.  A  peculiar- 
ity about  them  is,  that  they  seem  more  bulky  in  the  bow 
than  in  the  stern.  On  the  Brahmaputra  boats  large  flaps, 
like  the  fins  of  a  fish,  were  attached  to  the  rear  end,  serv- 
ing as  rudders.  Others  had  the  rudder  between  two 
tail  projections  at  the  stern.  The  boats  were  propelled 
either  by  ragged  sails  on  bamboo  poles,  or  by  oars  twenty 
feet  long,  and  terminating  in  round  shields  for  paddles. 
These  rugged  boats  were  frequently  encountered  during 

78 


DACCA. 

the  day.  Late  in  the  afternoon  we  arrived  in  Naranguia, 
the  terminus  of  the  Dacca  railroad.  We  had  to  wait 
an  hour  for  our  train,  which  afforded  us  a  chance  of  in- 
specting the  factories  at  Naranguia. 

Though  there  was  an  attempt  at  beautifying  the  sur- 
roundings of  the  town  by  parks  and  driveways,  the  long 
rows  of  miserable  board  shanties  gave  Naranguia  the  ap- 
pearance of  great  poverty  and  drudgery.  I  thought  there 
was  in  the  faces  of  the  natives  that  inhabited  them  some- 
thing peculiarly  low  and  sinister.  The  sans-souci  and  cheer- 
fulness of  Indian  poverty  was  entirely  wanting.  At  the  doors 
of  some  of  the  huts  the  women  were  sitting  on  the  ground, 
grinding  rice  between  two  stones.  The  Chinese  shop 
keeper  and  the  opium  den  are  in  evidence  along  the  streets 

The  country  between  Naranguia  and  Dacca  is  more 
densely  populated  than  other  parts  of  India.  It  must 
have  been  suffering  greatly  from  drought,  as  the  ground 
seemed  literally  burnt  to  a  crust.  Nearer  to  Dacca, 
however,  the  country  was  more  like  a  continued  garden, 
and  Dacca  itself  is  shaded  by  innumerable  fine  and  lofty 
trees.  Before  presenting  ourselves  at  the  residence  of 
Bishop  Hurth,  we  put  up  at  the  Dagh  bungalow.  These  are 
inns,  maintained  by  the  English  goverment  in  those  places, 
where  there  are  no  hotels  conducted  by  private  enterprise. 

We  were  all  alone  in  the  bungalow,  well  enough  served 
by  the  natives  in  charge.  Bordering  the  bungalow  to  the 
left  were  several  large  colleges  for  native  students  under 
charge  of  the  government.  The  Catholic  cathedral, 

79 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

which  is  of  modest  dimensions,  and  the  schools  and  con- 
vents of  the  sisters  lay  beyond.  We  were  received  by 
the  Frs.  Buries  and  Kiefer,  the  resident  priests,  with  not  a 
little  surprise,  for  nothing  was  less  to  be  expected  than 
visitors  from  the  neighborhood  of  Notre  Dame  Univer- 
sity in  such  a  distant  and  out-of-the-way  town  as  Dacca. 
Unfortunately  Bishop  Hurth  was  absent  on  business  in 
Chittagong,  and  as  our  letter  of  introduction  was  di- 
rected to  him  personally,  we  did  not  wish  to  encroach 
on  the  hospitality  of  the  two  fathers,  though  they  were 
solicitous  about  it.  We  returned  to  the  bungalow  and 
concluded  to  leave  with  the  morning  train.  For  our 
time  was  limited  and,  though  we  missed  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  the  bishop,  we  considered  ourselves  well  repaid 
by  visiting  such  unfrequented  parts  of  India. 

It  was  a  beautiful  moonlit  night.  After  our  supper 
we  sat  for  a  long  time  out  on  the  veranda  roof  inhaling 
the  perfume-laden  breezes  that  stirred  the  dark  foliage  of 
the  trees  and  shrubs.  Night's  calm  had  settled  on  the 
town  and  the  silvery  moonlight  twinkled  through  the 
branches  and  leaves,  tracing  their  shadows  on  the  smooth 
macadam  walks.  Early  in  the  morning  we  were  awakened 
by  the  vociferous  songs  of  thousands  of  birds  that  sported 
among  the  trees.  The  fresh  breezes  ushered  in  the 
first  rays  of  the  rising  sun.  It  was  one  of  the  most  de- 
lightful of  spring  mornings.  Having  paid  a  short  visit  to 
the  fathers,  we  hastened  to  catch  the  train  on  our  way 
back  to  Naranguia.  By  some  misunderstanding  we 

80 


SWARMING  CROWS. 


were  not  informed  of  the  return  of  Bishop  Hurth,  nor 
had  he  opened  our  letter,  when  he  arrived  at  midnight. 
The  bishop  afterward  sent  a  letter  to  Agra,  expressing 
his  regret  at  the  untoward  circumstances,  which  pre- 
vented an  interview. 

The  return  trip  up  the  Brahmaputra  from  Naranguia 
to  Goalundo  lasted  till  seven  in  the  evening.  For  diver- 
sion we  passed  some  of  our  time  in  feeding  the  crows 
that  are  met  with  all  over  India  in  great  numbers.  Not 
the  shy,  thievish  crow  of  our  country,  but  a  bold,  blink- 
ing, saucy  robber  of  a  bird.  They  are  not  entirely  black, 
but  have  a  dark  grey  streak  around  the  neck.  Flocks 
of  them  would  follow  the  steamer  up  the  river,  keenly 
watching  for  any  crumbs  falling  on  deck  or  any  where 
along  the  course  of  the  boat.  They  came  quite  close  to 
the  cabin  window,  noisily  hovering  about  and  darting  at 
the  food  we  threw  out.  Nearer  and  nearer  to  us  we  laid 
the  bits  of  food,  until  at  last  they  would  take  the  particles 
out  of  our  hands.  Occasionally  during  the  day  a  hawk 
wheeled  about  among  the  noisy  crows  in  close,  swift 
circles;  then,  alert  and  hovering  for  a  moment  on  flutter- 
ing wings,  it  would  dart  with  lightning  swiftness  and 
unerring  aim  to  snatch  the  larger  pieces  from  their  midst, 
before  the  falling  crumbs  would  reach  the  lower  deck 
or  the  water.  I  hung  out  a  little  piece  of  meat  on  a  silk 
thread  to  tempt  the  crows.  With  cunning  look  they  eyed 
it,  perched  on  the  projections  around,  but  not  one 
could  be  induced  to  seize  the  coveted  bait.  They  cared 

81 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

not  for  stringed  gifts.  These  birds  are  the  scavengers 
of  those  hot  climates.  No  native  would  ever  think  of 
hurting  them,  which  probably  accounts  for  their  tameness. 
There  was  a  continual  embarking  and  disembarking 
of  native  passengers.  Usually  at  the  approach  of  the 
steamer  to  a  halting  place  a  picturesque  band  of  dark 
forms  stood  on  the  edge  of  the  crumbling  banks,  mutely 
gazing  at  the  steamer  and  its  passengers,  or  trying  to 
sell  fruits  or  other  eatables.  At  one  time  a  half  dozen 
of  stalwart  Bathans,  Mussulmen  from  the  hill-country, 
scowling  and  haughty,  stalked  aboard  and  took  their 
seats  on  deck.  The  other  natives  as  a  rule  are  kindly 
and  cheerfully  disposed  people,  ready  to  do  a  service 
but  of  course  equally  ready  to  receive  a  bakshish.  How- 
ever that  is  easily  explained  by  their  poverty.  We  arrived 
in  Goalundo  ghat  in  the  moonlight,  and  with  a  young 
Englishman  took  a  stroll  through  the  town  during  the 
three  hours  before  train  time.  The  houses  here  are 
built  of  bamboo  frames  and  matting,  which  can  easily 
be  taken  apart  and  moved  to  higher  ground  as  soon  as 
the  flood  rises  over  the  bottom  lands.  In  other  places 
the  houses  of  the  natives  are  reared  of  mud  or  clay, 
which  dries  in  the  sun  and  is  generally  whitewashed. 
Immense  quantities  of  fish  were  stacked  up  along  the 
beach  and  a  lively  trade  in  that  kind  of  commodity  was 
going  on  as  we  arrived.  We  were  glad  to  accept  some 
of  the  coverings  of  our  young  acquaintance  on  the  train 
as  we  rumbled  through  the  chilly  night  to  Calcutta. 

82 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

STREET  LIFE  OF  CALCUTTA  —  A  UNIQUE  CHRISTIAN  — 
GRUESOME  DEATH  SCENES. — FLAGGING  THE  PLAGUE. 
PRACTICAL  HINTS. 

Early  morning  found  us  again  at  Calcutta  and  at 
services  in  Sacred  Heart  church.  We  were  informed 
by  Very  Rev.  Fr.  Marchal,  that  our  former  fellow  travelers 
had  called  during  our  trip  to  Darjeeling.  They  were 
much  disgusted  at  their  long  detour  and  at  the  delay  in 
Colombo,  though  Ceylon  itself  was  interesting  enough. 
We  had  been  seeing  a  good  deal  of  the  country  while 
they  were  sweltering  on  the  sultry  ocean.  We  had 
arrived  almost  a  week  before  them  in  Calcutta  by  boldly 
cutting  loose  from  the  routine  of  the  through  tickets. 
They  spent  only  a  few  hours  in  Calcutta  and  were  obliged 
to  rush  on  the  fast  trains  across  the  continent  of  India 
in  order  not  to  miss  their  steamer  in  Bombay. 

For  a  while  we  lounged  about  "the  strand  on  the  banks 
of  the  Hoogley.  The  patient  Hindoo  cows  attached  to 
the  rude  drays  were  standing  listlessly  chewing  their  cud 
in  the  noonday  sun.  Some  of  the  natives  were  busy 
loading  or  unloading  the  scows  and  native  junks;  more 
of  them  were  lounging  about  in  the  shade  or  stood  about 
in  groups  engaged  in  listless  conversation.  Scores  of 
natives  were  disporting  in  the  shallow  water  near  the 

83 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

river  bank:  some  bathing,  entirely  stripped  of  their 
clothes,  others  plunging  into  the  river,  clothes  and  all, 
and  some  of  them  washing  and  rinsing  part  of  their 
apparel  in  the  yellow  floods.  The  street  car  took  us 
along  the  river  bank  to  Eden  park.  It  was  almost 
devoid  of  visitors,  for  even  in  the  shade  of  the 
wide  spreading  banyan  trees  and  under  the  breezy  foli- 
age of  sycamores,  teaks  and  camphor  trees,  the  heat  was 
intense.  Beautiful  vistas  of  woodland  and  meadows 
vary  with  the  many-colored  flowerbeds,  the  kiosks, 
summer-houses  and  Burmese  temples,  which  latter  have 
been  transported  bodily  to  this  park  as  a  curiosity. 

Returning,  we  rode  the  full  length  of  the  mule  tramway 
to  the  opposite  end  of  the  city  along  the  banks  of  the 
river.  The  shops  and  dwellings  of  the  natives  in  these 
parts  are  tumbledown  huts,  built  of  odd  pieces  of  wood 
or  of  clay.  The  whole  interior  of  the  shops  is  open  to 
view;  the  bare  ground  forms  the  floor,  and  the  huts 
can  give  only  the  most  primitive  night-shelter  for  the 
teeming  population  in  the  native  quarters.  The  streets 
are  always  crowded.  Red  color  was  smeared  on  the 
doors  and  posts  of  the  houses,  or  in  fact  anywhere,  and 
the  white  sheets  worn  by  the  Hindoos  were  almost  with- 
out exception  stained  with  ochre  of  carmine  red,  which 
was  for  sale  in  most  of  the  shops  and  was  in  great  demand. 
On  inquiry,  we  found  that  this  red  color  was  used  as  be- 
ing symbolical  of  the  incestuous  relations  of  Siva  with 
Parvarti,  the  wife  of  Brahma.  In  memory  of  their 

84 


QUEER  CHRISTIANITY. 


adultery,  a  feast  of  several  days  is  celebrated  and  the  red 
dust  is  daubed  in  every  place  according  to  the  fancy  of 
the  natives.  Even  their  horses  and  cows,  their  carts 
and  the  harness,  and  the  merchandise  show  the  red  colors. 
Some  of  the  natives  seem  literally  to  have  rolled  them- 
selves in  the  red  pigment,  and  curious  sights  they  were, 
as  they  walked  along  in  their  quondam  white  clothes, 
on  which  the  sweat  or  the  rain  had  formed  irregular 
streaks  of  red  from  head  to  foot. 

Near  the  terminus  of  the  car  line  rose  a  large  Hindoo 
temple,  which  we  were  very  desirous  of  inspecting.  The 
doorkeeper  however,  would  on  no  account  give  us  ad- 
mission at  the  front  entrance,  where  we  applied.  An 
Englishman,  who  happened  to  pass  just  then,  advised 
us  to  try  the  private  entrance  in  the  rear.  There  our 
rapping  soon  brought  a  burly  native  to  the  door,  who 
spoke  English  tolerably  well.  He  claimed  to  be  the  head 
keeper  of  the  temple  and  we  tried  to  persuade  him  to  let 
us  enter  by  offering  him  a  considerable  compensation. 
He  would  not  yield,  however,  for,  he  said,  the  ceremonies 
of  Parvarti  were  in  progress  and  would  last  till  Saturday. 
No  white  man  could  be  admitted.  Growing  confidential, 
he  told  us  that  he  was  a  disciple  of  Dr.  Knox,  the  Presby- 
terian missionary  here,  and  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church.  On  asking  him  how  it  was  that  he  should  be 
head  keeper  of  a  heathen  temple  and  at  the  same  time 
claim  to  be  a  Christian,  he  laughingly  answered,  that  he 
was  anxious  to  learn  the  English  language.  By  simply 

85 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

professing  to  be  a  Christian  he  could  get  all  the  advantages 
of  a  thorough  English  schooling  without  payment,  and 
there  are  many  other  advantages  connected  with  being 
an  adherent  of  the  Protestant  religion.  He  saw  no 
impropriety  in  assuming  the  name  of  a  Christian  and 
at  the  same  time  retain  a  lucrative  position  as  keeper  of 
a  Hindoo  temple.  Why  not  humor  the  good  missionaries 
and  profess  Christianity,  since  the  advantages  of  being 
deemed  a  Christian  and  of  remaining  a  heathen  could  be 
so  well  combined? 

On  our  way  to  this  part  of  the  city  we  had  noticed 
four  men  carrying  a  corpse  on  a  bamboo  frame.  Only 
a  white  sheet  covered  the  ghastly  burden  and  a  few 
mourners  followed  behind.  Unheeded  by  the  swarming 
crowds  they  wended  their  way  to  Nimtolla,  or  burning, 
gaht,  whither  we  ourselves  were  bound.  The  bad  smell 
of  burning  flesh  was  noticeable  from  afar,  and  easily 
directed  us  in  our  search. 

Entering  through  some  hall- ways,  we  came  upon  an 
open  court,  surrounded  by  high  stone  walls.  The  entrance 
and  hall-ways  were  littered  with  corpses  covered  with 
white  sheets.  Of  all  kinds  were  these  corpses,  young 
and  old,  men  and  women.  Groups  of  natives  stood 
around  in  silence.  Tn  the  open  court  ten  or  twelve 
large  cordwood  piles  were  blazing,  the  thin  blue  smoke 
curling  up  in  the  sunshine.  Presently  we  distinguished 
among  the  crackling  embers  the  limbs  of  more  or  less 
consumed  human  bodies.  Where  the  woodpiles  had 

86 


NIMTOLLA  GHAT. 


already  burned  down,  only  charred  hands  or  feet  or  the 
larger  bones  could  yet  be  seen,  but  in  the  more  recent 
piles,  the  entire  naked  forms,  bound  and  pressed  together 
with  ropes  so  as  to  require  less  space,  were  distinguishable. 
As  the  fire  began  to  lick  the  cramped  limbs,  and  con- 
tracted the  muscles,  it  seemed  as  if  the  corpses  had  re- 
turned to  life  and  were  about  to  leap  from  the  dreadful 
destruction.  A  horde  of  almost  naked  coolies  were  run- 
ning about,  stirring  up  the  fires  and  poking  the  unburned 
limbs  deeper  into  the  fire,  or  piling  up  the  glowing  embers 
for  a  more  speedy  holocaust.  At  the  farther  end,  where 
we  mixed  with  the  stoical  onlookers,  the  naked  savages 
were  just  building  a  new  pyre.  A  cramped  corpse  was 
laid  face  upward  on  a  layer  of  wood  and  then  covered  up 
with  two  or  three  rows  of  additional  faggots.  Under 
the  wood  pile  was  a  cavity  filled  with  dry  rushes  and 
brushwood.  Shrieking,  the  coolies  began  to  run  around 
the  funeral  pyre,  waving  flaming  torches  in  their  hands. 
With  one  final  fiendish  yell,  they  set  fire  to  the  tinder 
below  and  the  flames  began  to  crackle  upward  to  the 
lifeless  corpse.  The  relatives  of  the  dead  stood  mutely 
by  to  witness  the  ceremony.  The  ashes  of  the  cremated 
corpses  are  thrown  into  the  adjoining  river  to  float  down- 
ward and  meet  the  departed  soul. 

Presently  the  corpse,  which  we  had  seen  carried 
through  the  streets,  arrived  inside  the  inclosure.  Impelled 
by  curiosity,  I  lifted  the  white  sheet  from  one  end  of 
the  bier  and  met  the  glassy  open  stare  of  a  dead  woman. 

87 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

The  features  were  horribly  distorted  and  the  natural 
dark-brown  of  her  countenance  had  yielded  to  the  ghastly 
pallor  of  death.  The  carriers  nodded  assent  when  I 
asked,  whether  she  had  died  of  the  bubonic  plague. 
That  seemed  a  minor  circumstance  here,  for  about  four 
hundred  inhabitants  of  Calcutta  were  then  dying  of  that 
dread  disease  every  day. 

All  corpses  of  Hindoos  are  disposed  of  at  the  burning 
gahts.  What  a  sight  full  of  despair  and  ghastly  de- 
struction are  these  death  scenes,  unrelieved  by  that  hope 
of  resurrection  or  a  better  life,  which  is  so  characteristic 
of  the  Christian  burial !  And  there  be  wiseacres,  who 
love  to  prate  about  the  grand  doctrines  inculcated  by 
Buddhism !  Let  them  see  India  and  the  life  of  the 
Hindoos.  The  English  government  dares  not  interfere 
in  the  practice  of  burning  the  bodies  and  casting  the 
ashes  into  the  river.  The  prejudices  of  the  natives  for 
their  religious  rites  prevent  many  other  sanitary  measures, 
that  would  certainly  help  to  diminish  the  fearful  mortality 
of  the  plague.  The  English,  very  wisely,  are  careful  not 
to  interfere  in  the  religious  practices  of  their  Indian 
subjects. 

We  boarded  a  tram  for  Chitpore  district  in  the  north- 
eastern end  of  the  city.  Miles  and  miles  of  streets  we 
passed,  where  the  mule-cars  could  hardly  squeeze 
through  the  thronging  crowds  of  people.  In  the  different 
districts  through  which  we  passed  an  entire  square  of 
houses  was  almost  hidden  beneath  countless  flags,  ban- 

88 


CHITPORE. 

ners  and  streamers  of  all  colors  and  sizes.  The  in- 
habitants of  these  districts  hoped  by  this  means  to  pro- 
pitiate the  evil  spirits  of  the  plague.  The  shops  are  for 
the  most  part  open,  so  that  people  passing  by  need  not 
enter  to  purchase.  The  floor  of  the  shop  is  raised  about 
three  feet  and  the  merchandise  lies  directly  within  grasp 
of  the  passers-by.  Generally  the  shop  is  not  more  than 
five  or  six  feet  deep  nor  more  than  ten  feet  long.  The 
shopkeeper  sits  all  day  cramped  up  amid  or  behind  his 
wares,  watching  for  prospective  purchasers  among  the 
passing  crowds.  I  always  wondered,  how,  with  such 
a  multitude  of  bazaars  and  shops,  the  owners  can  eke  out 
a  living. 

We  returned  to  the  Jesuit  church  in  the  evening,  after 
supper.  The  church  is  in  basilican  style  of  brick  and 
surrounded  by  a  fine  garden  of  tropical  plants.  It  was 
brilliantly  lit  up  by  gas  and  quite  a  large  congregation 
filled  the  pews  for  evening  devotions.  We  bade  good-bye 
to  Father  Marchal  and  took  a  carriage  for  Howrah, 
another  quarter  of  Calcutta  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Hoogley  river.  Here  are  the  stations  of  the  great  trunk- 
lines  of  railroads,  that  traverse  the  northern  and  south- 
ern provinces  of  the  Indian  continent.  The  railroads 
of  India  are  all  managed  by  the  government,  or  at  least 
heavily  subsidized,  in  order  to  encourage  the  building  of 
new  roads.  They  are  run  much  on  the  European  plan, 
only  there  is  less  formality  in  the  handling  of  passengers 
at  the  stations  and  on  the  trains.  Nicely  accommodated 

89 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

in  first-class  coupes,  we  rolled  on  through  the  night  over 
the  flat  country  from  Calcutta  to  Bankipur,  making  the 
distance  of  four  hundred  miles  in  eight  or  nine  hours. 

PRACTICAL  HINTS.  Our  experience  in  our  selection  of  routes 
so  far  bears  out  the  assertion,  that  much  more  can  be  seen  and 
much  more  liberty  is  enjoyed  in  traveling  without  through  tickets. 
This  kind  of  tickets  is  sold  over  the  highways  of  travel,  where 
accommodations  are  plentiful.  But  they  are  limited  as  regards 
time  and  the  choice  of  the  routes.  This  limitation  will  interfere 
with  desirable  side-trips,  which  are  often  the  most  interesting  part 
of  a  long  journey.  Those  that  care  not  so  much  for  the  convenience 
of  first  class  travel  can  easily  make  up  the  extra  outlay  of  money 
in  making  use  of  second  or  third  class  passage,  especially  as  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  hardship  during  travel  is  even  necessary  to  make 
it  interesting.  As  regards  the  plague  and  other  epidemics  in 
Oriental  countries,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  worry  about  them, 
except  in  so  far  as  they  might  entail  the  delay  of  quarantine.  The 
habits  of  white  men  are  such  as  to  make  the  danger  of  infection 
very  remote.  Many  travelers  carry  a  large  assortment  of  drugs 
with  them:  a  few  quinine  capsules  and  laxative  pills  will  ordi- 
narily suffice.  A  bottle  of  cordial  is  often  very  desirable  on  the 
train  in  order  to  counteract  the  evil  effects  of  a  sudden  change  of 
temperature.  The  first  care  on  arriving  in  a  country  is  to  become 
familiar  with  the  value  of  the  money  used;  a  good  supply  of  small 
change  for  petty  services  and  local  fares  should  be  at  once  procured 
and  always  kept  on  hand.  At  the  end  of  a  long  journey  it  will  be 
found  that  a  considerable  saving  will  have  resulted  therefrom. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

BANKIPUR  HOSPITALITY  —  A  SLY  ARMY  OFFICER  — 
AT  THE  CRADLE  OF  INDIAN  BUDDHISM  —  SAYA'S 
BO-TREE. 

From  Bankipur  we  intended  to  make  an  excursion 
to  Gaya,  in  the  neighborhood  of  which  is  reported  to 
be  the  cradle  of  Buddhism  in  India.  We  arrived  in  Bank- 
ipur quite  early  and  I  started  out  to  find  the  Catholic 
church.  The  European  residences  of  Bankipur  were 
spread  out  over  spacious  grounds,  intersected  by  beau- 
tiful shaded  avenues.  I  must  have  walked  fully  two 
miles  from  the  station  before  I  reached  the  Episcopal 
church,  whose  gothic  spires  overtopped  the  great  shade 
trees  and  the  fine  parsonage  near  it.  A  half  of  a  mile 
farther  on  is  the  native  quarter  and  in  its  midst  the 
modest  church  and  school  building  of  the  Catholic  es 
tablishment.  It  is  a  notable  fact,  that  the  Episcopal 
churches  in  the  British  colonies  are  located  in  the  best 
portions  of  the  European  quarters  of  the  cities,  whereas 
we  find  the  Catholic  churches  "  in  medias  res  "  among 
the  native  population.  The  Episcopal  parsonage  and 
church  is  generally  a  fine  mansion,  where  the  ministers 
live  at  ease  on  a  large  income.  This  is  furnished  either 
by  the  government  or  by  the  generous  contributions  of 
the  missionary  societies  at  home.  The  Episcopal  min- 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

isters  in  English  colonies  must,  of  course,  not  mingle  too 
freely  with  the  "  niggers,"  as  Rev.  Austin,  the  military 
chaplain,  whom  we  met  today,  called  the  natives.  The 
Catholic  missionaries  generally  live  in  poor  quarters  in 
the  midst  of  the  native  settlement,  on  a  salary  which 
anywhere  would  be  deemed  a  mere  pittance. 

Father  Louis,  a  Capuchin  from  Germany,  was  just 
about  to  vest  for  mass  when  I  arrived.  It  was  Saint 
Patrick's  day  and  a  large  congregation  was  already  wait- 
ing in  the  church.  When  Father  Louis  understood  the 
purpose  of  my  visit,  he  readily  yielded  his  place  to  me, 
and  I  sang  high  mass  in  honor  of  Saint  Patrick  in  his 
stead.  I  was  somewhat  amused,  when,  after  having 
shown  him  my  credentials  from  Chicago,  he  said:  "  Oh 
yes,  Chicago;  the  Jesuits  have  that  mission,  have  they 
not?"  He  was  evidently  under  the  impression  that, 
as  in  heathen  countries,  the  Jesuits  and  other  religious 
orders  had  parceled  out  the  different  provinces  of  the 
United  States  among  themselves.  He  was  greatly  sur- 
prised to  hear  that  there  were  over  four  hundred  secular 
priests  in  Chicago  and  only  a  few  Jesuits.  No  doubt 
he  mentally  scored  a  point  against  the  Jesuits  in 
Chicago  for  their  remissness,  or  perhaps  he  re-ad- 
justed his  estimate  of  Chicago,  and  concluded  that, 
after  all,  it  cannot  be  numbered  among  the  heathen 
cities. 

He  seemed  very  anxious  to  detain  me,  or  at  least  to 
secure  my  return  after  we  should  have  made  our  excur- 


GRAIN  SELLERS,   BENGAL 


A  SLY  QUESTIONER. 


sion  to  Gaya.  I  could  not  promise  either  with  any  cer- 
tainty, not  having  the  train  schedules. 

On  my  return  to  the  station  I  was  surprised  to  find 
my  companion  talking  to  a  well-dressed,  well-fed,  and 
somewhat  pompous-looking  individual,  who  entered  our 
compartment  of  the  car  and  readily  began  a  conver- 
sation also  with  me.  He  thought  that  England  should, 
as  soon  as  possible,  annihilate  every  one  of  the  rebellious 
burghers  of  South  Africa.  What  do  the  Americans  think 
about  the  Boer  War?  Unjust?  Why,  you  don't  say! 
Do  they  think  it  unjust?  He  had  been  to  the  United 
States  and  to  the  Bermudas;  met  some  fine  people  there; 
had  been  "  chawmed." 

Is  it  possible  that  I  should  be  a  Catholic  priest  ?  In- 
deed, he  was  pleased  to  meet  art  American  priest.  How 
often  do  priests  get  a  vacation  in  America  ?  None  to 
speak  of  ?  Why  he  would  not  know  what  to  think,  if  he 
did  not  get  at  least  two  months  in  summer.  All  ministers 
expected  it  in  India.  Salaries?  Ah!  but  they  seem  to  be 
poorly  paid  in  the  United  States. 

Wasn't  it  unfortunate  that  the  Pope  had  decided 
against  the  validity  of  Anglican  Orders  ?  It  would  have 
been  so  "  chawming  "  to  have  the  Catholic  priests  and 
the  Anglican  ministers  united  and  form  one  whole. 
(About  the  charms  of  this  union  I  had  serious  doubts, 
for  I  began  to  perceive,  that  my  glib  fellow-passenger, 
in  spite  of  this  incognito,  which  he  so  anxiously  tried  to 
preserve,  was  even  one  of  these  Anglican  ministers). 

93 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

"  But  confound  those  pesky  dissenting  and  other,  espe- 
cially American,  preachers!"  he  continued,  "  they  are 
such  a  bother  to  the  English  government  here  in  India. 
They  demand  so  many  privileges  and  are  always  asking 
the  government  to  help  them  out  of  their  scrapes." 

Why,  you  don't  say,  are  the  Catholics  in  the  United 
States  so  numerous?  But  don't  you  admire  Chinique 
as  a  smart  man?  No?  An  apostate  Catholic  priest? 
What  about  the  Lynch  law:  is  it  a  fact,  that  it  is  not  legal- 
ized by  the  authorities  ?  It  is  not  a  real  law  then  ?  Is 
it  true,  that  a  Catholic  priest  is  not  allowed  to  receive 
females  as  visitors  in  his  house,  or  to  be  seen  talking  to 
them  in  church?  So  they  are  allowed  to  converse  with 
them  on  parish  affairs  ?  But  as  regards  social  intercourse, 
he  had  seen  a  Catholic  priest  at  Dinapore  playing  at  lawn 
tennis  with  ladies:  what  did  I  think  of  that?  Saw  it 
with  his  own  eyes.  Oh  yes,  it  was  in  public.  No,  he 
could  not,  of  course,  say  that  there  was  any  harm  in  it. 
Are  confessions  heard  only  in  church  and  not  in  the 
house  ?  Had  not  known  of  this  before.  Really,  it  seems 
that  the  English  ministers  can  take  much  more  liberty 
in  intercourse  with  ladies,  than  the  Catholic  priest.  He 
had  not  believed,  that  so  many  restrictions  were  imposed 
upon  the  priest  in  this  regard  by  the  Catholic  church. 
He  certainly  admired  the  charity  of  the  Catholic  mission- 
aries in  India  to  the  famine  and  plague  stricken  natives. 

In  this  style  he  spouted  forth  questions,  surmises, 
and  opinions,  while  we  rattled  along  in  the  dusty  train 

94 


UNMASKED. 


to  Gaya.  He  had  until  then  been  highly  pleased  with 
himself  in  being  able  to  pump  out  a  Catholic  priest,  with- 
out revealing  his  own  calling  and  position;  for  he  had 
introduced  himself  merely  as  Mr.  Austin.  But  he  over- 
reached himself  before  we  arrived  at  Gaya.  He  wanted 
to  know  my  full  name  and  address,  which  I  readily  gave 
him.  I  was  waiting  for  just  such  a  chance,  as  he  had 
tried  to  evade  giving  his  own  full  name,  I  now  asked  for 
it  in  a  direct  manner — Mr.  Austin  of  Dinapore,  P.  G., 
Bruce  Austin.  "  You  are  connected  with  the  army,  are 
you  not  ?"  "  Yes,  to  be  sure,  how  could  you  ever  guess 
that?"  "  And  you  are  the  army  chaplain  at  Dinapore, 
are  you  not?"  Well,  he  never  thought  any  one  would 
ever  find  him  out.  He  felt  quite  crestfallen  and  some- 
what confused,  when  I  told  him  that  I  had  perceived 
his  intention  of  trying  to  get  all  sorts  of  opinions  out  of 
me  under  cover  of  his  incognito,  and  that  I  rather  enjoyed 
this  chance  of  giving  them  without  the  restraint  which  an 
open  introduction  would  have  imposed  upon  me. 

Gaya  is  a  large  town,  altogether  native.  We  repaired 
to  the  dagh  bungalow  to  get  some  refreshments,  but  they 
were  of  an  indifferent  kind  and  slow  in  coming.  Then 
our  gharry  took  us  along  the  dusty  road  seven  miles  to 
Bogaya,  where  the  Buddha-tree  and  one  of  the  oldest 
temples  of  India  are  venerated  by  the  natives.  We  had 
told  the  driver,  that  our  time  was  limited,  and  that  he 
would  get  extra  pay,  if  he  would  make  the  afternoon 
train  for  our  return  to  Bankipur.  I  was  soon  sorry  of 

95 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

having  urged  him  onward,  for  though  the  road  was  none 
of  the  best,  and  the  sun  burned  down  with  noon-day 
fierceness,  his  ill-fed  ponies  were  urged  onward  without 
mercy,  so  that  they  were  soon  completely  fagged  out. 
We  drove  at  first  through  at  least  a  mile  of  streets  of  the 
town.  The  houses  were  constructed  of  clay  and  some 
of  them  had  a  coat  of  whitewash.  They  were  mostly 
low  huts,  covered  with  thatched  roofs.  Many  of  the 
huts  were  plastered  all  over  with  lumps  of  dung;  for 
the  natives  pick  up  the  excrement  that  falls  from  the 
draft  animals  and  fling  it  up  against  the  walls  of  their 
houses,  in  order  that  it  may  dry  and  afterward  serve 
for  fuel. 

Along  the  country  road  stood  many  vaulted  tombs 
with  cupolas.  Laborers  in  the  fields  were  drawing  water 
from  the  wells  by  means  of  buckets  attached  to  long 
beams  balanced  over  a  post.  The  water  was  poured 
from  the  buckets  into  irrigating  ditches,  that  traversed 
the  parched  fields.  Our  road  led  along  the  flat  sandy 
bottom  of  a  dried-out  river.  The  tall  palms  near  and 
far,  the  rows  of  camels  passing  along  the  widespreading 
sands  of  the  river-bed,  the  Bedouin-like  natives  driving 
them  along,  made  us  imagine  that  we  were  near  an  Afri- 
can desert  and  traversing  one  of  the  oases  of  the  Sahara. 
The  palm-trees  along  the  road  were  nearly  all  tapped 
and  had  earthen  vessels  attached  near  the  incisions,  in 
order  to  catch  the  oozing  sap,  which  is  a  delicious  bev- 
erage after  it  has  fermented. 

96 


IN  MYSTERIOUS  HALLS. 


From  afar  the  towers  and  walls  of  the  ancient  temples 
now  began  to  appear  through  the  open  wood.  At  the 
monastery  gate  stood  a  number  of  natives,  who  were  all 
eager  to  show  us  the  remarkable  monuments,  of  which 
the  place  boasts.  One  of  them  brought  us  to  the  inside 
of  a  spacious,  but  neglected  garden,  at  the  farther  end 
of  which  rose  a  large  building  like  a  monastery  or  col- 
lege. As  he  could  not  speak  English,  we  could  do  no- 
thing but  follow  his  guidance  up  a  dark  and  narrow 
stairway,  expecting  to  see  the  principal  Mahmudi  of  In- 
dia, who  according  to  previously  obtained  information, 
has  his  residence  here.  He  finally  stopped  in  a  long 
narrow  room,  full  of  ancient  furniture,  but  seemingly  not 
occupied  by  anyone.  Our  eager  guide  stood  in  the  midst 
of  it,  gesticulating  and  pouring  out  a  flood  of  words. 
We  did  not  listen  with  an  attention  quite  wrapt.  This 
might  have  been  the  room  which  the  original  Buddha, 
Prince  Saya  himself,  had  occupied,  after  his  long  session 
under  the  Bo-tree  outside,  or  it  might  have  been  the 
apartment  reserved  for  the  great  Mahmudi,  who  was  con- 
cealed in  some  other  part  of  the  monastery.  But  his 
flights  of  oratory  were  decidedly  uninteresting  to  us, 
since  he  used  a  language  not  a  word  of  which  we  under- 
stood. We  expected  to  be  bi  ought  into  the  presence  of 
the  Mahmudi  himself,  but  it  dawned  upon  us  at  last 
that  the  jabbering  Hindoo  was  ony  asking  extra  bak- 
shish at  every  turn.  I  have  not  to  this  day  found  out 
who  the  great  Mahmudi  was,  and  why  the  Hindoo 

97 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

brought  us  up  into  a  dark  hall  and  into  the  suspicious- 
looking  interior  of  that  many-storied  building. 

Across  the  road  rose,  like  a  huge,  clumsy  tower,  the 
old  temple  of  Bo-Gaya.  It  was  surrounded  by  extensive 
gardens  and  a  large  sacred  pond.  The  temple  and 
ground  are  connected  with  the  origin  of  Buddhism  in 
India  and  date  back  more  than  2,500  years.  In  this 
neighborhood  Prince  Saya  spent  six  years  in  lonely  cogi- 
tation, seated  under  a  tree.  Here  he  hatched  out  that 
monstrous  fraud,  Buddhism,  six  hundred  years  before 
Christ.  After-generations  set  up  his  images  everywhere 
among  the  teeming  nations  of  India,  so  that  now  he  is 
worshipped  as  a  god,  seated  in  cross-legged  contemplation 
in  myriads  of  shrines  all  over  the  Orient.  Buddhism 
is  nothing  but  the  scrapings  from  the  philosophies  of  Ori- 
ental nations,  badly  mixed  up  with  some  of  the  revealed 
truths  of  the  Bible  and  the  ravings  of  Novatians,  Illumi- 
nati  and  other  sects,  condemmed  long  ago  by  the  Catholic 
church.  It  has  the  advantage  over  modern  Spiritism 
and  the  so-called  Christian  Science,  in  so  far  as  it  is  much 
older  and  perhaps  more  reasonable. 

The  temple  is  built  in  the  form  of  a  four-cornered 
tower.  Grotesque  images  of  animals  and  gods,  carved 
from  the  dark  red  rocks,  frown  down  from  the  four  sides. 
The  temple  has  been  lately  restored  by  the  English,  as 
one  of  the  curiosities  worthy  of  preservation.  The  in- 
terior contains  many  images  in  the  different  stories,  be- 
sides the  great  one  of  Prince  Saya,  the  original  Buddha, 

98 


BO-GAYA. 

in  the  lowest  story.  To  the  left  lies  the  sacred  pool, 
which  is  about  three-hundred  feet  square  and  can 
be  approached  by  wide  stone  stairs,  leading  down  to 
the  water  on  all  four  sides.  A  number  of  natives  were 
even  then  performing  the  sacred  ablutions  in  the  brackish 
water.  A  large  area  surrounds  the  temple  and  the  pool 
is  covered  with  open  porticoes  and  gardens.  Behind 
the  temple  is  shown  the  sacred  Bo-tree,  beneath  the 
ancestor  of  which  Prince  Saya  is  said  to  have  sat  brooding 
for  six  years.  On  a  granite  flagstone  the  imprints  of 
two  huge  feet  are  believed  to  be  the  impressions  left  by 
Buddha,  as  he  passed  by  after  his  long  meditation.  If 
the  rest  of  his  body  corresponded  to  his  feet,  no  wonder 
they  would  make  an  impression  wherever  he  trod. 

Not  much  edified  by  these  remnants  of  heathen 
superstition,  we  departed  in  our  gharry.  Arriving  at  the 
station,  we  were  surprised  to  find  that  the  owner  of  the 
conveyance  angrily  demanded  about  three  times  the  fare 
stipulated.  The  natives  are  great  walkers,  and  they 
generally  have  well-shaped  limbs.  An  earthen  water 
bottle  dangles  from  their  side,  just  as  in  Syria  and 
Palestine.  Thus  they  always  have  a  cool  drink  at 
hand;  for  the  wind,  striking  the  moisture  that  exudes 
through  the  unglazed  earthenware,  has  the  effect  of  keep- 
ing the  contents  cool  in  the  hottest  weather.  We  were 
glad  to  accept  the  urgent  hospitality  of  Father  Louis 
in  Bankipur,  when  we  arrived  at  his  church  at  night- 
fall. He  was  anxious  to  detain  us  until  Monday,  the 

99 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

feast  of  Saint  Joseph,  when  he  expected  to  see  several 
other  priests  of  his  district  at  his  house.  I  was  sorry, 
however,  that  I  could  not  accept  his  invitation.  No 
less  urgent  were  the  German  sisters  in  their  requests 
of  another  kind;  like  our  sisters  at  home,  they  let  no 
occasion  slip  for  advancing  their  charitable  undertakings. 
In  the  course  of  the  evening  we  subscribed  for  an  orphan- 
age, which  they  intended  to  erect  for  the  native  children. 
The  Father  assigned  the  best  part  of  his  parsonage 
for  our  use  during  the  night,  and  it  is  needless  to 
mention,  that  we  enjoyed  our  brief  stay  with  the  good 
missionary. 


100 


CHAPTER  X. 

AT  THE  SACRED  GANGES  —  Cows'  AND  BULLS'  ELY- 
SIUM—  SAVAGE  HORDES  or  PRIESTS — MONKEY  CULT 
—  ALERT  SHOPK?:EPERS — NIRWANA'S  WATERS  — 
THE  BURNING  GHAT. 

A  hearty  good-bye  and  good  wishes  from  both  sides, 
and  we  were  again  on  the  train  rolling  over  the  flat  coun- 
try to  the  banks  of  the  Ganges  and  to  old  Benares,  the 
sacred.  At  Chauda  the  passengers  on  the  train  had 
to  undergo  a  quarantine  examination.  This  examin- 
ation is  a  mere  formality  for  the  white  passengers,  but  the 
natives  in  the  third  and  fourth  class  must  undergo  a 
close  scrutiny.  A  number  of  coaches  lay  side-tracked 
here,  because  they  had  been  used  by  some  passengers 
infected  by  the  bubonic  plague.  At  noon  we  crossed 
the  fine  iron  bridge  over  the  river  Ganges,  that  flowed 
majestically  onward  beneath  the  battlemented  towers 
and  gilded  domes  of  ancient  Benares  in  the  distance. 

Arriving  at  that  city  we  were  immediately  taken  in  tow 
by  Khoda  Bux,  the  guide,  who  showed  us  the  signatures 
of  Rev.  B.  and  V.  H.  of  a  few  days  before.  He  offered 
to  conduct  us  around  for  two  rupees,  but  these  we  found 
afterward  to  mean  six  or  seven,  not  counting  those  which 
Khoda  tried  to  draw  out  of  our  pockets  through  the 
wily  shopkeepers.  We  stopped  first  at  Clark's  Hotel 
101 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

for  dinner.  Here  we  met  the  stout  planter  and  his  ad- 
venturous looking  female,  who  had  made  themselves 
quite  noticeable  on  the  Matiana.  A  cloud  seemed  to 
hang  between  them  now,  for  their  amorous  familiarity 
had  lapsed  into  a  distant  and  moody  silence.  Hunting 
for  the  Catholic  church,  we  found  instead  of  it  a  young 
Portuguese  priest  from  Goa,  who  was  on  a  visit,  staying 
with  his  brother.  We  were  hospitably  invited  to  re- 
turn in  the  evening  and  take  dinner  in  the  house.  Khoda 
Bux  then  took  us  to  see  the  sights  of  Benares.  He  was 
no  better  than  the  rest  of  his  tribe:  hurrying  us  through 
really  interesting  sights  in  order  to  have  more  time 
to  linger  in  the  shops,  where  he  expected  percentage  on 
our  purchases. 

Through  narrow,  winding  streets  we  plowed  our  way 
among  the  surging  crowds  to  the  Golden  temple,  so 
called,  because  of  the  profuse  gilding  of  its  walls.  Odor 
of  sandalwood  filled  the  air;  incredible  noise  and  bustle 
prevailed  in  the  narrow  courts  between  the  complex  of 
buildings.  A  vicious  black  bull  stood  in  the  middle  of 
an  inclosure,  while  the  patient  Hindoo  cows  were  chew- 
ing their  cud  in  the  rich  stalls  around.  Only  the  heathen 
priests  were  allowed  within  the  inclosure  and  they  were 
.valking  about  with  great  show  of  attention  to  the  ani- 
mals. Before  we  got  to  this  part  of  the  temple,  a  horde 
of  savage  natives,  for  the  most  part  naked  or  clad  in 
filthy  rags,  rushed  at  us  from  the  narrow  passages,  sur- 
rounding us  with  eager  clamors  and  soliciting  the  privi- 

IC2 


A  Cows'  PARADISE. 


lege  of  conducting  us  around.  They  all  claimed  to  be 
priests  of  the  temple.  One  of  them,  taller  and  more 
ragged  than  the  rest,  ruthlessly  elbowed  the  others  aside, 
claiming  that  he  \vas  the  head-priest  over  four  hundred 
and  therefore  more  qualified  to  act  as  our  guide,  than 
all  the  others.  In  spite  of  our  protests  and  those  of 
Khoda  Bux,  he  preceded  us  on  our  way  around,  gestic- 
ulating and  shouting  at  us  the  few  words  of  English 
in  his  vocabulary.  When  we  tried  to  enter  the 
enclosure  of  the  bull,  he  and  others  rushed  up  horrified, 
preventing  us  to  set  foot  within.  No  wonder  the  bull 
looked  vicious:  the  company  of  such  a  horde  of  savages 
which  he  must  endure,  would  sour  the  life  of  any  respect- 
able bull,  not  even  taking  his  sacred  character  into  con- 
sideration. Before  we  left  the  temple-ground,  the  sav- 
age head-priest  vigorously  demanded  ten  rupees  for  his 
services.  I  was  for  giving  him  not  a  para;  but  Khoda 
said  it  would  be  dangerous  to  refuse  bakshish  entirely, 
for  they  made  a  show  of  violence.  I  yielded  to  the  ex- 
tent of  one  rupee  for  all  of  us. 

As  soon  as  Khoda  could  liberate  us  from  the  swarm 
of  beggars,  he  began  to  expatiate  upon  the  renowned 
brass  works  to  be  seen  in  Benares.  Of  course  he  bent 
his  way  to  the  quarters  of  the  city  where  they  are  to 
be  seen.  What  we  saw,  fully  justified  the  renown  which 
Benares  bears  in  this  respect.  The  exquisite  and  artistic 
tracing  is  executed  by  thousands  of  native  brass  workers 
at  merely  nominal  wages.  The  prices  which  the  wily 
103 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

shop-keepers  get  for  the  artistic  products  vary  according 
to  the  gullibility  of  the  visiting  customers.  The  mer- 
chant and  the  guide  generally  unite  their  efforts  in  order 
to  draw  the  highest  amounts  possible  from  the  pockets 
of  the  customers.  The  less  inclination  for  purchasing 
they  find  in  their  victims,  the  lower  will  that  amount 
finally  be.  Khoda  had  little  success  in  the  brass  line 
with  us:  brass  was  not  what  we  stood  in  particular  need 
of.  After  a  few  weeks  of  intercourse  with  the  brazen- 
faced shopkeepers  of  the  Orient,  we  had  acquired  brass 
ourselves,  though  of  a  different  kind.  He  vainly  tried 
something  softer  and  more  insinuating,  and  brought  us 
to  the  silk  embroidery  shops.  The  gold  and  silver  em- 
broidery which  was  shown  us  here  was  wonderfully 
artistic,  and  it  seems  Khoda  really  tried  to  bring  prices 
down  to  the  lowest  level.  But  even  that  failed  of  its 
intended  effect:  we  did  not  invest  very  heavily. 

The  bazaars  of  India  are  interesting  places  for  the 
visiting  strangers.  Native  life  is  exhibited  in  those  nar- 
row, crowded  streets  in  all  its  phases.  There  they  sit 
on  the  platform  behind  their  wares,  those  keen-eyed 
merchants,  watching  for  prospective  purchasers  in  the 
passing  crowds.  A  European  in  the  street  immediately 
electrifies  a  whole  neighborhood.  Every  one  of  his 
motions  is  watched.  Let  him  take  but  a  step  in  the  di- 
rection of  a  shop,  or  cast  a  mere  casual  glance  at  the  goods 
displayed;  let  him  but  listen  with  half  an  ear  to  the  solici- 
tations of  the  scores  of  shopkeepers  in  the  vicinity,  and 
104 


MONKEY-SHOW. 


up  they  will  jump,  snatch  an  article  from  their  stand, 
surround  him,  pursue  him,  dodge  around  by  the  dozen 
and  flourish  their  articles  before  his  eyes.  Lower  and 
lower  falls  their  price,  with  loud  protestations  of  its 
ridiculous  lowness,  until  the  distracted  passer-by  finds 
himself  encumbered  with  some  article  more  or  less  use- 
less, and  more  or  less  dearly  bought,  considering  the 
trouble  of  carrying  it  with  him  on  the  long  journey.  We 
see  no  Chinese  here;  the  Hindoos,  their  match  in  business, 
supplant  them  and  outdo  them  in  their  specialty  of  getting 
what  they  can,  even  if  the  profits  are  next  to  nothing. 
Khoda  Bux,  not  finding  much  gain  in  tarrying  about 
the  shops,  and  fearing  to  lose  an  extra  bakshish  if  he 
did  not  yield  to  our  demand  for  other  sights,  pro- 
ceeded to  the  celebrated  Monkey  temple.  As  we 
approached,  we  saw  the  grinning  beasts  in  great  number 
cutting  their  monkey-shines.  One  involuntarily  begins 
to  ask,  whether  they  are  not  grinning  in  sheer  contempt 
of  the  foolish  bipeds  that  set  them  up  as  sacred  objects. 
But  there  is  something  behind  this  monkey-show  which 
is  more  obscene  than  the  antics  of  these  disgusting  ani- 
mals. Khoda  Bux  threw  them  some  sweets,  which  he 
had  bought  for  that  purpose.  The  same  was  done  by 
all  the  natives  before  they  entered.  Khoda  was  no 
heathen,  but  a  Mohammedan.  He  professed  great  con- 
tempt for  the  practices  of  the  Hindoo  religion,  neverthe- 
less he  conformed  to  some-of  them,  in  order  not  to  incur 
the  hatred  of  the  priests.  The  half-clad  priests  of  the 
105 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

Monkey  temple  went  about  distributing  flowers  and 
throwing  chaplets  of  daisies  around  the  necks  of  those 
that  had  entered,  gathering  bakshish  at  the  same  time. 
One  of  these  fellows  threw  a  wreath  of  flowers  also  around 
our  necks,  in  order  to  make  us  worthy  of  treading  on  the 
temple  ground.  We  of  course  tore  it  off,  thinking  where 
monkeys  could  cut  their  capers  we  could  at  least  walk 
without  wreaths,  in  spite  of  the  bakshish-hunting, 
heathen  priests.  A  crowd  of  people  kept  poXiring  through 
the  gates  of  the  inclosure  and  streamed  toward  the  por- 
tals of  a  not  very  large  temple  opposite.  Khoda  informed 
us  that  the  wife  of  a  rajah  had  just  arrived,  in  order  to 
go  through  some  ceremony  in  honor  of  Parvarti.  Both 
he  and  the  priests  prevented  us  from  entering  one  of 
the  side  doors,  saying,  that  no  outsider  would  ever  be 
allowed  to  witness  of  the  ceremony.  That  did  not  inter- 
fere, however,  with  the  brazen  demands  of  the  priest 
for  bakshish.  Khoda  afterwards  brought  us  to  the 
other  side  of  the  temple,  where  we  saw  the  image  of  the 
goddess,  but  on  account  of  the  press  of  the  people  around 
it,  we  could  not  see  in  what  the  ceremony  did  consist. 
Khoda  would  only  faintly  indicate  the  nature  of  the  per- 
formance, without  going  into  particulars.  That  this 
temple,  and  the  ceremonies  connected  with  it,  were  very 
popular,  was  sufficiently  evidenced  by  the  festive  throngs 
scattered  about  the  ground. 

On  my  journey,  and  before,  I  have  sometimes  heard 
the  assertion,  that  Christianity  is  nothing  else  than  the 
106 


SILLY  ASSERTIONS. 


modification  of  Brahmanism  or  Buddhism,  and  derives 
its  institution  from  the  great  Oriental  nations.  The 
ceremonies  of  the  Catholic  church  especially,  are  com- 
pared with  the  ceremonies  of  these  oriental  religions. 
But  the  outward  showing  of  religion  is  something 
which  is  partly  left  to  human  ingenuity  and  inven- 
tion. It  is  founded  on  the  common  basis  of  human 
reason.  What  wonder,  that  the  philosophic  religions  of 
the  Orient  should  adopt  certain  outward  ceremonies, 
which  resemble  those  of  the  Catholic  church  ?  All  the 
outward  show  of  the  true  church  is  intended  to  demon- 
strate the  mysteries  hidden  beneath.  But  to  ascribe  to 
the  ceremonies  of  the  Catholic  church  such  a  low  origin 
as  Buddhism  or  Brahmanism  is  the  height  of  silly  pre- 
varication. There  is  a  certain  similarity  in  a  few  minor 
ceremonies  of  these  monstrous  abberration  and  the  cere- 
monies of  the  true  church,  because  the  former  are  alto- 
gether human  institutions,  aping  the  good  and  the  reason- 
able, possessed  in  divine  plentitude  by  the  Catholic 
church.  Obscenity  dons  the  robe  of  sanctity  and  of  rea- 
sonableness, and  the  most  shameful  practices  parade  in 
the  garb  of  religious  observances:  hence  superficial  minds 
are  deceived.  The  few  moral  precepts,  which  heathenism 
professes,  are  necessary  deductions  of  the  natural 
law  and  cannot  be  evaded;  but  this  same  natural  law 
is  also  an  integral  part  of  the  doctrines  of  the  true  church : 
hence  some  similarity  in  minor  and  outward  points, 
but  vast  difference  in  spirit  and  in  essence. 
107 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

-  Among  the  most  beautiful  sights  of  Benares  are  the 
banks  of  the  Ganges.  The  right  bank  rises  one  hundred 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  from  the  water,  and  is 
fringed  with  old  palaces  and  castles,  temples  and  monas- 
teries, with  many  an  oriental  turret  and  to>ver.  Khoda 
hired  a  huge  tub  of  a  boat  with  four  oarsmen  to  take  us 
from  the  Monkey  temple  back  to  the  other  end  of  the 
city,  a  distance  of  over  two  miles.  Slowly  we  moved 
up  stream,  seated  on  rickety  stools  on  a  sort  of  upper 
deck.  The  evening  sun  glittered  from  gilded  turrets 
and  grated  windows  of  the  towering  buildings  on  the 
bluffs,  while  behind  and  above  the  clear-cut  outlines  of 
eaves  and  battlements,  rose  the  mellow-tinted  blue 
of  the  heavenly  vault.  In  ever  varied  shape  and  style 
of  architecture  these  numerous  buildings  passed  in  view, 
as  we  slowly  glided  up  the  deep  blue  bosom  of  the  Ganges. 
These  banks  and  bluffs  are  the  most  sacred  and  blissful 
shore  of  Nirwana,  whither  tend  the  longings  of  the  rajah 
and  the  pariah,  the  wealthy  merchant  and  the  beggar, 
the  priest  and  the  monk.  Here  the  wealthy  build  their 
palaces,  here  the  poor  seek  the  rude  huts  or  the  shelter 
of  over-hanging  eave  or  narrow  cleft  of  the  rock,  in  order 
to  die  within  sight  of  the  sacred  river.  The  pilgrimage 
to  Benares'  river-bluffs  and  a  bath  in  the  calm  flowing 
stream,  is  the  height  of  the  ambition  of  the  natives 
throughout  India.  The  right  bank  of  the  river  is  lined 
with  stone  walls,  rising  up  either  straight  or  in  tiers. 
Some  of  the  palaces  and  temples  rest  upon  this  wall  for 

1 08 


CREMATION  HORRORS. 


a  foundation.  Among  the  most  remarkable  buildings 
along  the  shore  are  those  of  the  rajah  of  Madras,  and  the 
great  Mohammedan  mosque  with  its  many  slender  tur- 
rets and  minarets.  In  India  the  mosques  of  Allah  stand 
often  side  by  side  with  the  temples  of  Buddha.  The 
vast  temple  of  the  pilgrims  rears  its  crumbling  walls  like 
a  fortification  at  the  head  of  the  wide-sweeping  stairs 
into  the  air.  On  these  stone  stairs  hundred  thousands 
often  hasten  down  from  the  portals  of  the  temple  in  times 
of  pilgrimage  in  order  to  plunge  into  the  waters  of  the 
Ganges  at  sunrise.  Even  now,  as  dusk  was  falling,  the 
dark  forms  of  the  Hindoos  were  making  their  solemn 
ablutions  in  the  sacred  floods,  throwing  water  over  their 
heads  and  toward  the  departed  sun,  or  dipping  it  up  with 
their  hands  to  drink. 

It  was  already  dark  when  we  halted  opposite  the  burn- 
ing ghat  of  Benares.  Even  from  afar  the  odor  of  burning 
flesh  was  carried  toward  us  on  the  gentle  zephyr,  and 
the  rippling  waters  of  the  stream  was  streaked  by  the 
lurid  glare  of  five  or  six  funeral  pyres  half  way  up  the 
lofty  embankment.  Our  tublike  boat  approached  quite 
close  up  to  the  banks,  so  that  we  could  distinguish  the 
dark  forms  of  the  mourners  encircling  the  fires  and  the 
demonlike  stokers  moving  about.  High  into  the  dusky 
air  the  crackling  flames  leaped  up  as  they  stirred  the 
crumbling  embers  or  rearranged  the  charred  bodies. 
From  one  dying  funeral  pile  protruded  an  unscathed 
head  still  adhering  to  the  glowing  skeleton  in  the  midst  of 
109 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

the  flames;  the  bulging  eyes  starting  from  their  sockets 
as  if  in  mute  and  nameless  agony.  Presently  two  of  the 
firemen  seized  a  heavy  pole  and  with  one  fell  thrust 
crushed  the  dark  skull  to  pieces.  The  scattered  brain 
fell  hissing  on  the  embers.  The  dull  thuds  of  the 
poking  fiends  raised  a  spray  of  sparks  and  for  a 
moment  cast  a  lurid  glare  over  the  faces  of  the  spectators 
in  the  dark  background.  In  the  water,  immediately  be- 
tween us  and  the  fires,  were  seen  the  indistinct  forms 
of  more  bodies,  stripped  of  their  clothes  in  order 
to  be  washed  before  their  destruction  by  fire.  The 
ashes  of  the  thousands  that  are  burned,  are  thrown  into 
the  stream  to  be  carried  to  Nirwana.  Only  a  short  dis- 
tance down  the  stream  is  the  great  bathing  place  of  the 
pilgrims  where  thousands  drink  of  the  water  thus  mixed 
with  the  ashes  of  their  dead. 

We  left  the  boat  and  climbed  up  the  high  banks  past 
the  gruesome  funeral  fires  and  entered  the  veriest  maze 
of  narrow  streets  and  lanes,  lighted  by  the  smoking  oil 
lamps  and  torches  of  the  dingy,  dusky  shops.  After  re- 
ceiving his  pay  Khoda  insisted  on  leaving  us,  merely 
giving  necessary  directions  to  our  gharry -driver.  The 
latter  lost  his  way,  for  the  ride  seemed  to  come  to  no  end. 
But  he  finally  brought  us  past  the  post-office,  where  we 
received  a  telegram  from  Cook's  office  in  Calcutta,  to  the 
effect  that  there  would  be  no  steamer  berth  at  our  ser- 
vice in  Bombay  on  the  ^ist  of  March.  From  the  post- 
office  the  driver  easily  found  the  house  of  Dr.  Saldanda, 

1 10 


ON  TO  LUCKNOW. 


where  we  dined  in  pursuance  of  this  morning's  invitation. 
Though  we  were  late,  we  were  very  kindly  entertained. 
A  few  hours  later  found  us  comfortably  settled  in  a  first 
class  coupfc,  speeding  through  the  night  over  the  flat 
country  from  Benares  to  Lucknow. 


HI 


CHAPTER  XI. 

REMNANTS   OF   THE  SEPOY    WAR  —  CAWNPORE  :    ITS 
WAR  MEMORIALS  —  AGRA  —  THE  TAJ  MAHAL. 

We  arrived  next  morning  in  time  to  say  mass  in  the 
Capuchin  church  at  Lucknow.  Father  Bartholomew 
afterwards  invited  us  to  breakfast  and  procured  Barna- 
bas, the  son  of  the  sacristan,  for  us  as  a  guide.  This 
young  man  conducted  us  to  the  ruined  residence  of 
General  Lawrence,  the  scene  of  the  great  conflict  in 
the  Sepoy  war  of  1857-8.  Before  the  English  occupation, 
the  building  had  been  the  palace  of  the  rajah.  Though 
it  is  built  only  of  brick  and  clay  mortar,  the  thick 
walls  of  the  ruins  will  no  doubt  last  for  centuries. 
Everywhere  is  seen  the  devastating  work  of  the 
cannon.  In  the  cellar  or  basement  of  the  fortresslike 
building  the  women  and  children  of  the  English 
residents  dragged  aivay  86  weary  days,  while  the 
men  defended  the  entrances  above.  Many  died  of  the 
hardships  endured  and  of  wounds  received.  Beautiful 
parks  surround  the  ruins,  for  the  English  do  not  stint 
their  money  (nor  that  of  the  conquered  natives),  when  it 
comes  to  perpetuating  the  memory  of  those  that  died  in 
their  wars  of  conquest. 

Our  next  visit  was  to  the  grand  mausoleum  of  Sad 
Delican.  The  entrance  is  through  a  grand  colonade  of 

112 


REMINDERS  OF  WAR. 


brown  sandstone.  A  magnificent  sweep  of  marble 
stairs  leads  up  to  the  portico  and  into  the  great  audience 
room  and  ball  room  of  the  former  rulers.  In  the  midst 
of  the  audience  hall  stands  the  silver  tomb  of  Delican  and 
his  wife.  Behind  it  also  the  pulpit  of  like  material  for 
reading  the  Koran  in  public.  The  carving  and  the  enam- 
eling on  these  is  exquisitely  artistic.  But  even  they 
are  surpassed  in  this  regard  by  the  decorations  on  the 
tomb  of  Mahomet,  which  stands  in  the  same  hall  and  is 
an  exact  reproduction  of  that  in  Mecca.  In  keeping  with 
the  richness  of  these  tombs,  are  all  the  decorations  in  the 
great  halls  of  the  mausoleum.  We  climbed  up  through 
the  winding  stairs  to  the  gallery  fifty  feet  above  the  marble 
floors  of  the  ballroom,  where  the  Mohammedan  ladies 
sat  as  witnesses  of  the  festivities  below,  unseen  by  the  gay 
throngs  in  the  hall.  How  many  a  Mahommedan  beauty 
has  sat  behind  the  exquisite  trellis  work  in  the  high  bal- 
ustrade, filled  with  longings  to  join  in  the  festivities, 
which  were  forbidden  them  by  the  harsh  rules  of  their 
religion!  Another  remarkable  mausoleum,  the  Imam- 
bara  Ashal  Dohla,is  situated  across  the  river  Goomta 
and  preserves  the  memory  of  the  minister  of  Sad  Delican. 
In  several  respects  these  mausoleums  contain  workman- 
ship unequalled  by  the  great  monuments  of  Europe. 

Barnabas,  our  young  Christian  guide,  offered  to  ac- 
company us  to  Bombay  at  a  salary  of  one  rupee  a  day. 
We  accepted  his  services  as  far  as  Agra.    After  passing 
through  the  crowded  native  quarters  and  getting  a  scant 
"3 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

and  dear  lunch  for  dinner,  we  boarded  the  train  for  Cawn- 
pore.  The  heat  was  oppressive.  Riding  on  a  train  is 
scarcely  the  most  comfortable  way  of  spending  the  noon 
hours  in  India.  Yet  the  ride  was  not  of  long  duration, 
for  Cawnpore  is  only  42  miles  from  Lucknow.  Directly 
from  the  depot  we  drove  to  the  residence  of  Fr.  Ludovicus, 
a  Capuchin,  who  tends  to  the  wants  of  the  Catholics 
hereabouts.  A  vicious  bullpup  rushed  out  of  the  house 
in  a  rage,  trying  to  appropriate  as  much  of  our  lower 
anatomy  as  would  come  handy,  before  the  fathers  could 
call  a  halt.  But  fortunately  a  cane  in  the  father's  hands 
persuaded  the  vicious  beast  to  desist  and  we  saved  our 
limbs  for  further  use.  We  were  earnestly  pressed  to 
make  a  stay,  which  however  we  could  not  do.  It  seems 
the  true  church  is  everywhere  in  India  making  satisfac- 
tory progress.  The  want  of  priests,  however,  is  badly 
felt.  If  the  missionaries,  who  almost  all  belong  to  relig- 
ious orders,  could  only  succeed  in  training  up  secular 
priests,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  church  would  spread  much 
faster. 

A  fine  gothic  church  was  erected  in  Cawnpore  in  mem- 
ory of  those  who  perished  in  the  great  insurrection  of 
1858.  Beautiful  colored  windows  diffuse  a  mellow  light 
between  the  marble  columns  and  through  the  chancel 
and  body  of  the  church.  Along  both  sides  above  the 
wains-scot  ing,  memorial  tablets  with  the  names  of  the 
Englishmen  that  perished  in  the  revolt,  stand  in  prominent 
view.  In  fact,  that  seems  to  be  the  principal  object  of 
114 


SEPOY  HORRORS. 


the  church.  Around  it  are  laid  out  beautiful  flowerbeds, 
drives  and  parkways.  At  a  distance  is  another  division 
of  the  park,  in  the  centre  of  which  is  the  splendid  monu- 
ment of  the  Sorrowing  Angel.  We  entered  the  park, 
conversing  with  each  other  in  an  ordinary  tone  of  voice. 
Soon  a  couple  of  policemen  rushed  upon  us,  and  in  hor- 
rified whispers  told  us,  that  no  loud  speaking  was  per- 
mitted, for  the  ground  was  sacred.  The  monument  is 
built  of  marble,  forming  an  octagonal  colonade  above  a 
spacious  platform.  In  the  middle  is  the  opening  of  the 
deep  well,  above  which  the  statue  of  a  large  angel  spreads 
its  wings.  In  this  well  were  found  the  bodies  of  the  wo- 
men and  children  of  the  English  residents  after  the  in- 
surgents had  been  expelled  from  Cawnpore.  The  be- 
sieged had  surrendered  on  condition  of  safe  passage  to 
Allahabad,  but  were  ignominiously  slaughtered  here  and 
some  of  them,  yet  alive,  were  thrown  into  this  well. 

While  the  English  portion  of  Indian  cities  is  always 
widely  spread  out  and  beautified  by  costly  parks,  the 
native  quarters  present  the  usual  crowded  and  squalid 
conditions  of  the  Orient.  Cawnpore  forms  no  exception 
to  this  rule.  As  we  were  not  allowed  to  enter  the  na- 
tive temple,  we  returned  to  the  hotel  for  a  much- 
needed  rest. 

During  the  last  six  weeks  we  had  had  very  little  time 

to  rest  ourselves,  for  our  sight  seeing  and  travel  took 

up  all  our  time.     On  the  hotel  table  were  lying  copies 

of  Bowie's  missionary  publications  and  we  met    them 

"5 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

also  in  other  places  of  the  Orient:  proving  that  the  im- 
postor, who  poses  as  Elias  III,  was  not  losing  much  for 
want  of  distant  enterprise. 

Reaching  the  depot  at  nine  o'clock  we  found  all  the 
first-class  coupes  occupied.  However,  the  conductor, 
with  many  apologies,  assigned  us  places  in  second  class, 
which  were  just  as  comfortable.  Early  in  the  morning 
we  had  to  change  cars  at  Twundla  for  Fort  Agra.  There 
Father  Hilarius  O.  C.  afforded  me  a  chance  of  saying 
mass,  after  which  we  rested  until  two  o'clock.  During 
the  journey  I  wrote  very  few  letters  for  want  of  time; 
but  I  did  not  neglect  to  send  frequent  short  messages  on 
postal  cards  to  friends  at  home,  which  served  almost 
the  same  purpse. 

The  most  noteworthy  building  of  Agra,  and  of  India, 
is  the  Taj  Mahal,  or  the  tomb  of  Mahal,  the  wife  of 
Shah  Jehan.  No  wife  ever  received  a  more  splendid 
token  of  affection  from  her  husband,  than  the  wife  of 
this  Mohammedan  ruler  two  hundred  years  ago.  It 
does  seem  strange,  that  a  Mohammedan  should  so  dis- 
tinguish himself  since  women  are  but  a  plaything 
in  the  hands  of  Mohammedan  husbands,  and  very  often 
the  mere  slaves  of  his  passions.  The  Taj  is  built  inside 
of  a  vast  inclosure,  not  unlike  a  fort,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Jumna,  about  two  miles  from  the  city.  The  imposing 
entrance  and  the  serried  colonades,  peering  through  the 
encircling  shade  trees  inside  of  the  park,  form  a  magni- 
ficent surrounding  for  the  Taj.  As  one  issues  through 
116 


TAJ  MAHAL. 

the  imposing  portals  of  the  colonade  into  the  gardens 
and  lets  his  eyes  sweep  over  the  artistic  flowerbeds,  the 
spouting  fountains  and  basins,  the  low  clusters  of  shrub- 
bery, an  entrancing  vision  of  purest  white,  rising  in  the 
background,  soon  fixes  upon  itself  the  attention  of  the 
visitor  and  draws  him  on  to  examine  more  closely  the 
magic  structure  on  its  vast  platform  at  the  farther 
end  of  the  enclosure.  The  park  is  fully  one  half  mile 
long  and  one  quarter  of  a  mile  wide.  A  balustrated  plat- 
form, fifteen  feet  high,  slightly  overlooks  the  shubbery 
and  the  fountains  in  front  of  it.  It  extends  over  the 
whole  width  of  the  rear  of  the  garden  and  from  its  four 
corners  aspire  tall  and  slender  minarets,  while  the  great 
Taj,  like  an  emanation  from  fairy  land,  arises  from  its 
centre.  So  symmetrical  in  all  its  parts  is  it,  that  the  be- 
holder forms  no  adequate  notion  of  its  size,  but  finds  all 
his  thoughts  immediately  taken  up  by  its  wonderful 
beauty. 

The  lower  portion  of  the  Taj,  a  perfect  square  of 
about  two  hundred  feet,  rises  some  thirty  feet  like  one 
solid  mass  of  marble  of  dazzling  white,  from  the  platform. 
The  joints  of  the  marble  blocks  are  almost  invisible,  even 
at  close  inspection,  and  only  a  few  delicate  tracings  break 
the  smooth  surface  of  this  lower  story.  On  this  square 
rest  the  octagonal  walls  of  the  upper  portion,  abounding 
in  exquisite  carving  and  tracery,  which  set  off  the  doors 
and  lattice  work  of  the  Moorish  arches  and  panels,  the 
turrets  and  minarets  on  each  of  the  eight  sides  of  the 
117 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

superstructure.  Above  all  these,  encompassing  the  edges 
of  these  eight  sides  in  a  wide  circular  sweep,  the  polished 
cupola  majestically  overtops  the  bewildering  maze  of 
arches,  cornice-work,  flanking  minarets  and  turrets, 
vaulting  its  snowy  sphere  to  the  blue  sky.  The  whole 
edifice  is  built  entirely  of  purest  Jaipur  marble,  the  only 
other  material  being  the  precious  stones  used  for  mosaic 
work  both  inside  and  outside  its  walls. 

After  beholding  the  beauty  and  perfection  of  detail 
on  the  outside,  we  were  well  entitled  to  wonder,  whether 
we  would  meet  corresponding  perfection  on  the  inside  of 
the  building.  And  we  were  not  disappointed.  Enter- 
ing the  great  Moorish  portal  on  the  side  facing  the  gar- 
dens, we  were  received  into  a  spacious  hall,  which  spread 
away  before  us,  while  at  both  ends  and  in  front  of  us 
the  magnificent  stairways  led  on  to  other  apartments 
both  above  and  beneath  the  one  we  had  entered.  In 
the  centre  stood  two  sarcophagi,  also  of  white  marble, 
but  inlaid  all  around  with  a  profusion  of  most  precious 
stones,  making  them  look  like  vast  gems  of  many- 
colored  hues.  These  are  the  resting-places  of  Shah 
Jehan  and  his  wife.  There  was  no  other  furniture  in 
this  or  in  any  of  the  other  halls;  but  the  walls,  the  ceilings, 
the  banisters,  cornices,  entablatures,  friezes,  and  lattice 
windows  presented  a  maze  of  precious  mosaic-work  and 
carving,  that  made  the  dead  marble  seem  a  thing  of  life. 

Many  times  as  we  retraced  our  way  through  the  gar- 
den and  the  road  back  to  the  city,  we  turned  back  our 


AKBAR  FORT. 


lingering  gaze  upon  the  peerless  outlines  of  the  Taj. 
The  grand  cupola  rises  over  two  hundred  feet  into  the 
sky,  dominating  the  surrounding  country  and  watching 
over  the  river  Jumna,  that  broadly  sweeps,  in  many  a 
winding,  past  the  walls  of  the  edifice.  From  afar  the 
great  white  cupola  is  visible  in  the  sunlight ;  but  when 
the  silver  sheen  of  the  moon  falls  over  the  dome  and 
minarets,  the  Taj  seems  a  vision  of  enchantment,  which 
one  fears  might  disappear  at  the  lightest  breath:  such 
is  the  fairy  gracefulness  of  its  tracery  and  architecture. 
After  all,  the  so-called  civilized  nations  need  not  call 
themselves  the  sole  proprietors  of  art  and  munificence, 
nor  is  the  nineteenth  century  unrivalled  in  the  grandeur 
of  its  monumental  structures.  There  is  nothing  new 
under  the  sun,  as  Solomon  says. 

From  the  Taj  Mahal  we  drove  to  the  fort  of  Akbar 
within  the  confines  of  the  city.  From  the  outside  at 
least,  it  makes  a  formidable  impression  on  the  beholder: 
walls  forty  feet  high,  parapets  and  bastions,  towers  and 
turrets  frowning  down  upon  the  passerby.  But  when 
we  had  entered  the  immense  arched  gate,  we  saw  that 
the  huge  wall  was  only  of  brick  loosely  laid  in  clay.  It 
would  stand  no  parley  with  the  wide-mouthed  engines 
of  destruction  of  modern  times.  The  fort  was  tenanted 
by  a  British  garrison. 

From  there  our  way  led  us  along  the  banks  of  the  river 
past  the  dwellings  of  Hindoo  monkey  priests  and  over  a 
pontoon  bridge  to  the  memorial  tombs  of  the  viziers  of 
119 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

former  times.  This  building,  though  not  so  large  as  the 
Taj  Mahal  and  "of  a  different  style  of  architecture,  is 
likewise  an  exquisite  creation  in  marble.  Inside  of  it 
are  the  resting-places  of  the  former  grandees. 

The  streets  of  the  town  swarmed  with  natives,  many 
of  whom  must  be  desperately  poor.  The  famine  is 
driving  the  natives  toward  the  cities  for  relief.  There  are 
large  tracts  in  different  parts  of  India  where  the  rice 
crop  was  a  total  failure.  The  country  which  we  had 
passed  from  Benares  showed  evident  signs  of  great 
drought  and  the  destitute  condition  of  the  fields  easily 
explained  the  poverty  of  the  natives.  Everywhere  they 
crowded  around  the  stations  in  the  hope  of  some  assist- 
ance from  the  passengers.  They  seem,  however,  to  take 
famine  and  its  woes  a  good  deal  as  a  matter  of  course. 
It  is  nothing  unusual  in  India.  Whenever  the  rainfall 
is  notably  less  than  normal,  a  famine  will  make  its  ap- 
pearance. The  great  staple  is  rice,  and  that  will  not 
grow,  unless  the  country  is  flooded  during  the  rainy  sea- 
son. Moreover  the  land  is  in  possession  of  the  great 
land  owners,  mostly  English,  who  will  not  store  up  the 
product  for  home  consumption,  but  export  it  in  order 
to  obtain  greater  prices. 

At  hotel  Metropole  we  met  our  acquaintances  of  the 
Gaelic,  Messrs.  Fortescue,  King  and  party.  Mr.  King 
kindly  offered  us  his  berth  on  the  Carthage,  which  was 
to  leave  Bombay  for  Sue/,  on  the  3ist  of  March.  We 
concluded  to  discharge  Barnabas  Marceline,  giving  him 
120 


RAILROADS  IN  INDIA. 


his  fare  to  Lucknow  and  paying  him  liberally  for  his 
services.  For  those  that  desire  a  servant,  who  can  at 
the  same  time  take  the  place  of  a  guide,  I  would  recom- 
mend that  young  man. 

At  the  depot  we  found,  that  the  train  for  Delphi  was  late 
and  crowded.  An  Englishman  and  his  lady  monopolized 
the  coupe,  so  that  naturally  we  did  not  much  enjoy  the 
ride  during  this  night.  But  it  passed  like  many  another 
night:  there  is  no  retarding  the  march  of  time,  whether 
we  are  enjoying  ourselves  or  not.  The  train  service  is 
tolerably  good  and  the  attendants  are  polite,  more  so  than 
in  some  parts  of  Europe,  and  by  far  more  so,  than  the 
conductors  on  American  railroads.  The  snobbishness 
of  our  conductors  is  entirely  absent  from  their  Indian 
confreres:  they  seem  to  be  under  the  impression  there, 
that  a  conductor  does  not  own  the  road,  together  with 
the  life  and  limbs,  and  the  body  and  soul  of  the  pass- 
engers. Still,  the  management  as  a  whole  would  hardly 
do  for  the  land  of  the  star  spangled  banner.  The  fastest 
trains  do  not  make  over  30  miles  an  hour.  Tickets  are 
bought  before  entering  the  cars  and  are  collected  at  the 
end  of  the  ride  as  you  pass  out  through  a  gate.  If  you 
have  none  at  that  time  you  simply  buy  one  then.  Very 
often  our  tickets  were  not  inspected  during  the  course 
of  the  whole  run,  nor  were  the  coupons  detached  at  the 
proper  stations. 


121 


CHAPTER  XII. 

DELHI  —  JEHAN  FORT  AND  THE  PEARL  MOSQUE  — 
FAIRY  PALACE  OF  OLD  MOGUL  KINGS  —  GAUNT 
FAMINE  SUFFERERS  —  AHMEDABAD  BY  STORM  — 
PRACTICAL  HINTS. 

The  train  arrived  in  Delhi  at  4:30  A.  M.  After 
sunrise  one  of  the  gharry-men  pressed  his  services  on 
us  to  bring  us  to  the  modest  chapel  of  the  Capuchin 
father,  who  tends  to  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  Catholic 
soldiers  in  the  cantonment.  The  poor  nag  could  hard- 
ly drag  the  vehicle  for  want  of  food  and  stopped  several 
times  on  the  short  way  to  the  chapel.  The  good  father 
on  hearing  that  our  time  was  limited,  quickly  prepared 
the  altar  for  mass  and  would  not  let  us  depart  without  a 
collation  afterward.  He  told  us  that  there  were  a  good 
many  Irish  soldiers  in  the  cantonment  here.  His  salary, 
however,  was  a  mere  pittance  and  his  small  dwelling 
gave  evidence  of  great  poverty.  He  had  a  pet  in  the 
shape  of  a  beautiful  angora  cat,  which  rubbed  its  soft 
fur  against  our  feet,  while  we  sat  at  table.  It  was  a 
sworn  enemy  to  all  snakes  and  had  in  a  short  time  cleared 
the  whole  neighborhood  of  these  pests.  Our  gharry- 
man  expected  to  be  engaged  for  our  drive  through  the 
city,  but  when  we  told  him  to  give  his  nag  some  feed  first, 
he  wanted  to  double  his  charges  for  the  morning  drive. 
122 


SPLENDORS  OF  THE  PAST. 


In  another  carriage  we  then  drove  to  the  fort  of  Shah 
Jehan,  built  in  1633  much  in  the  same  style  and  of  the 
same  material  as  the  one  we  had  seen  at  Agra.  The 
most  notable  sight  within  is  the  marble  palace  of  the 
former  ruler.  It  runs  along  one  side  of  the  fort  about 
two  hundred  feet  and  is  divided  into  two  wings  by  an 
open  portico.  Just  as  the  Taj,  it  is  of  the  finest  Jaipur 
marble,  white  as  snow  and  inlaid  with  precious  stones. 
The  right  wing  contains  the  public  audience  hall,  where 
formerly  stood  the  famous  Peacock  throne,  said  to  have 
cost  $30,000,000.  This  throne,  together  with  the  great 
Kohinoor  diamond,  was  part  of  the  plunder  which 
Nadir  Shah  took  with  him,  when  in  1739  he  wrested 
Delhi  from  the  Mogul  kings,  who  had  reigned  here  since 
their  renowned  ancestor,  Tamerlane.  A  canal  of  limpid 
water  formerly  ran  through  this  hall  and  across  the  floor 
of  the  portico  to  the  harem  and  dwelling  of  the  kings. 
There  it  furnished  hot  and  cold  water  for  fountains  and 
for  the  baths  connected  with  the  harem.  What  a  time 
these  old  Mahommedans  must  have  had  in  their  lux- 
urious dwellings,  where  they  whiled  away  the  hot  after- 
noons and  evenings  surrounded  by  the  beauties  of  their 
harems !  Only  their  buildings  are  left,  not  another  ves- 
tige of  their  power.  In  the  construction  of  this  magnifi- 
cent palace  nothing  was  used  except  the  finest  polished 
marble  and  the  still  more  precious  stones,  gathered  from 
half  the  surface  of  the  earth  and  here  inlaid  into  the  walls 
and  pillars  of  their  dwellings.  Inside  the  walls  of  the 

123 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

fort  is  also  the  Pearl  mosque,  another  gem  of  Moorish 
architecture.  In  front  of  it  is  a  large  open  court,  paved 
with  marble  and  surrounded  by  an  open  colonade.  On 
the  floor  of  the  mosque  spaces  are  marked  off  in  mosaic 
for  each  worshipper.  The  only  furniture  in  Mohammedan 
mosques  is  the  mihrab,  a  niche  in  the  wall  and  sometimes 
a  pulpit  for  public  reading  of  the  Koran.  These  are 
always  in  such  a  position  that  the  audience  faces  in  the 
direction  of  Mecca. 

Nowbat,  the  guide,  whom  we  had  met  in  the  Pearl 
mosque,  now  conducted  us  to  the  Jumna  Musjid,  the 
largest  mosque  in  all  India.  It  is  within  the  city,  rises 
in  the  rear  of  an  immense  platform  and  is  flanked  right 
and  left  by  beautiful  pillared  arcades.  On  the  four  corners 
minarets  tower  aloft  at  least  three  hundred  feet. 
The  whole  is  built  of  red  sandstone  trimmed  with  white 
marble  keystones  and  quoins  in  Moorish  style.  It  was 
built  by  the  son  and  successor  of  Shah  Jehan.  On  the 
floor  were  again  the  separate  squares  marked  off  for  each 
worshipper.  Otherwise  the  interior  presented  the  usual 
bareness  and  one  is  apt  to  ask,  what  is  the  real  purpose 
of  all  these  costly  pillars,  cornices  and  arches  in  Moham- 
medan mosques.  The  small  niche,  or  mihrab,  in  front, 
hardly  seems  important  or  suggestive  enough  for  such 
costly  architecture.  On  the  side  facing  the  fort  is  the 
Friday  portal,  which  was  never  opened  except  when  the 
Shah  paid  his  official  visits  to  the  mosque  on  Fridays. 
It  is  hardly  ever  opened  now.  The  English  governor, 

124 


DELHI. 

however,  has  several  times  claimed  the  privilege  of  en- 
tering through  it,  in  order  to  impress  the  natives  with 
the  fact  that  he  is  now  the  successor  of  their  former  rulers. 
From  the  top  of  one  of  the  minarets  we  could  survey 
the  whole  city  of  Delhi  and  the  immediate  surroundings. 

We  proceeded  to  the  ridge  about  two  miles  outside 
of  the  city,  where  the  gallant  stand  was  made  by  the 
English  against  the  Sepoys  in  1858.  The  inevitable 
memorial  tower  there  commemorates  the  names  of  those 
who  distinguished  themselves  in  the  bombardment  and 
recapture  of  the  city  from  the  hands  of  the  mutinous 
garrison  of  native  soldiers.  Near  it  stands  a  granite  pillar; 
said  to  be  300x3  years  old.  It  looks  battered  enough  to 
be  that  old,  but  one  is  easily  deceived  about  the  age  of 
ruins  in  those  countries.  Nowbat  skillfully  launched 
us  into  the  shops  of  some  of  the  silversmiths  at  the 
noted  Chadni  Chunk  Bazaar.  The  work  was  wonder- 
fully artistic  and  beautiful;  we  did  not,  however,  invest. 
In  another  shop  we  were  shown  the  most  delicate  em- 
brodiery  at  ridiculously  low  prices;  but  we  did  not  wish 
to  be  troubled  with  carrying  such  goods  around  the 
world.  I  took  the  address  of  Kandjimull  Rugh,Wandae 
and  Company,  for  possible  orders  in  church  vestment?. 

After  taking  tiffin  (for  so  the  noonday  meal  is  called 
in  English  colonies),  we  boarded  the  narrow  gauge  to 
Jeypore  and  Ahmedabad.  During  the  afternoon  we 
traversed  a  barren,  burnt  country,  with  scarcely  a  sign 
of  vegetation,  except  a  few  stunted  locust  trees  and  rugged 
125 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

cactus  hedges  along  the  sides  of  the  railroad  tracks. 
At  some  of  the  way-stations  we  saw  the  sacred  peacocks 
kept  in  enclosures  by  the  natives.  A  few  strings  of 
camels  crossed  over  the  parched  plains  in  the  distance. 
Gaunt  famine  appeared  in  the  pinched  faces  of  the  natives 
that  crowded  up  to  the  depot  enclosures  in  the  hope  of 
getting  alms  from  the  passengers.  They  were  not  al- 
lowed to  approach  the  trains,  but  they  made  mute  ap- 
peals for  aid  through  the  picket  fences  around  the  stations. 
During  the  whole  night,  and  until  noon  of  the  follow- 
ing day,  we  continued  to  travel  through  the  arid  alluvial 
sand  waste  for  five  hundred  miles.  There  was  no  river 
on  our  way,  only  dried-out  torrent  courses.  But  where- 
ever  the  natives  had  succeeded  in  finding  well-water  for 
irrigating  a  small  plot  of  ground,  a  green  oasis  had  sprung 
up  and  luxurious  vegetation  covered  the  ground.  In 
the  middle  of  the  day,  distant  hills  began  to  break  the 
monotonous  landscape.  The  rocky  mountain  waste  of 
Abu  came  to  view  and  Abu  peak  reared  its  rocky  cliffs 
and  promontories  into  the  air  on  our  right.  Not  even 
in  the  mountain  gorges  was  there  any  vegetation  to  be 
be  seen,  through  we  could  distinguish  a  few  trees  around 
the  famous  monastery  of  Mount  Abu,  as  the  train  made 
a  wide  sweep  around  its  base.  An  occasional  monkey 
gamboled  over  the  rocks  or  climbed  up  the  telegraph 
poles,  stupidly  gaping  at  the  passing  train.  The  gaunt 
figures  of  the  famine  sufferers  were  more  frequent  to- 
day  than  yesterday. 

126 


MALAY  WATER-CARRIER 


"JELAH!  JELAH!" 


When  we  reached  Kotel  at  5 135  P.  M.,  the  rocky  wastes 
had  disappeared  and  the  country  was  again  a  flat  plain, 
containing  fields  of  rice,  grain  and  other  products.  A 
little  farther  on,  a  small  fort  loomed  up  to  our  left,  the 
chimneys  of  mills  and  factories  rose  into  the  evening 
sky,  and  soon  we  rumbled  into  the  great  station  of 
Ahmedabad.  Here  we  had  to  wait  for  the  broad  gauge 
railway  train  to  Bombay  and  we  concluded  to  make  use 
of  the  time  at  our  disposal  for  a  drive  into  the  city. 
Leaving  our  satchels  in  the  care  of  a  Hindoo  we  stepped 
out  among  the  crowd  of  jehus.  Like  furies  they  pounced 
upon  us,  offering  to  bring  us  anywhere.  One  of  them 
understood  our  wishes  sooner  than  the  rest  and  we 
accepted  his  offer.  With  a  triumphant  whoop  he  climbed 
his  seat  and  lustily  cracking  his  whip,  he  made  his  horse 
gallop  through  the  whole  crowd  of  gharry-men  toward 
the  city.  As  we  had  promised  bakshish  for  quick  ser- 
vice, we  were  in  his  eyes  the  sole  owners  of  all  the  streets 
of  Ahmedabad  and  he  drove  on  with  a  continuous 
warning  yell  to  man,  woman  and  beast  to  keep  out  of 
the  way. 

The  shops  and  streets  of  Ahmedabad  are  superior  in 
appearance  to  those  of  other  cities  we  had  met  in  India. 
There  must  be  few  white  people  here,  for  we  saw  none 
on  the  streets.  We  passed  through  three  great  gates 
of  the  three  walls  that  encircle  the  town.  Following  a 
crowd  of  people  into  a  mosque,  we  saw  hundreds  of 
proud  Mohammedans  kneeling  on  the  stone  flags  of  the 
127 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

court,  facing  in  the  direction  of  the  mihrab  and  the  pulpit. 
On  our  return  the  driver  of  the  gharry  kept  up  a  ceaseless 
shout  of  "  Jelah,  Jelah,"  and  a  lusty  cracking  of  his 
whip.  Many  an  angry  look  was  cast  at  him  and  at  us 
from  the  scurrying  natives  in  the  street,  as  they  tried  to 
dodge  the  unswerving  horse  and  carriage.  Two  na- 
tive policemen  tried  to  interfere,  one  mounted  on  horse- 
back, the  other  on  foot.  But  our  gharry-man  was  not 
to  be  imposed  upon  by  any  minions  of  public  order, 
when  he  had  two  white  men  behind  him,  that  would 
give  him  bakshish  and  back  him  up  against  the  whole 
native  police  of  Ahmedabad.  Without  deigning  to 
slacken  the  gallop  of  his  horse,  he  angrily  pointed  at 
us  behind  him  saying,  that  the  great  sahibs  must  make 
the  train  ;  let  the  native  rabble  give  way.  He  lashed  his 
steed  into  a  lively  gallop,  shouting  and  cracking 
his  whip  so  much  the  louder.  The  guardians  of  the 
streets  bowed  to  the  unanswerable  argument.  So  taken 
up  was  he  with  the  importance  of  his  commission  and 
with  the  bright  hope  of  bakshish,  that  he  shouted  his 
warnings  to  people  far  ahead  or  to  any  straggler  a 
half  block  down  the  side  streets. 

The  train  master  allotted  a  separate  coupe"  to  us  and 
we  were  soon  bowling  away  towards  Bombay  through 
the  moonlit  night  at  a  much  faster  rate  than  on  the  narrow 
gauge  in  the  afternoon.  We  passed  over  a  more  pic- 
turesque and  fruitful  country  than  that  encountered 
hitherto  across  the  continent.  The  signs  of  drought 
128 


PRACTICAL  HINTS. 


and  famine  gradually  vanished  and  tropical  vegetation 
again  covered  the  hillsides.  However,  the  soft  couches 
of  the  coupe*  after  the  day's  fatigues  were  an  invitation 
to  a  night's  rest,  which  we  did  not  long  resist. 

PRACTICAL  HINTS.  The  best  time  for  travel  in  India  and  in 
the  southern  Oriental  countries  are  the  months  of  November, 
December,  January  and  February.  During  those  months  one 
avoids  both  the  annual  rainy  season  and  the  torrid  heats.  It  will 
be  advisable  however,  to  take  an  extra  blanket  along  as  there  are 
cool  nights  and  no  arrangements  for  heating,  at  least  not  adequate 
ones.  Those  that  are  anxious  to  stock  their  minds  with  useful 
and  pleasant  information  must  be  ready  to  endure  the  hardships 
and  fatigue  of  sight-seeing.  In  fact,  the  interest  in  travel  will 
soon  disappear  in  those  who  are  disinclined  to  exertion.  They 
will  begin  to  hasten  past  the  most  remarkable  scenes  and 
while  away  the  hours  in  the  hotels.  Another  good  means  to  keep 
up  the  interest  is  to  take  daily  notes,  even  though  this  may 
at  times  be  very  irksome. 


I29 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

BOMBAY'S  BEAUTEOUS  ENVIRONS  —  A  QUIET  SAIL  — 
THE  PARSEES — TOWER  OF  SILENCE. 

In  the  fresh  morning  air  of  Friday,  March  23,  we 
found  ourselves  speeding  through  the  palmgroves  and 
the  wooded  hills  of  the  island  of  Salsete.  Soon  the  manu- 
facturing districts  of  Dadar,  a  suburb  of  Bombay,  flitted 
by  and  we  rumbled  past  the  several  large  stations  of  the 
city  to  the  southern  extremity  of  the  last  of  the  small 
islands,  on  which  Bombay  is  built.  The  site  of  Bom- 
bay includes  several  of  these  islands,  which  are  arti- 
ficially joined  to  each  other  by  filling  in,  and  form  a  long 
peninsula.  Bombay  is  therefore  surrounded  by  water 
on  three  sides.  The  young  man,  who  had  traveled 
with  us  on  the  Condor,  had  recommended  to  us  the  Eng- 
lish Hotel,  where  we  accordingly  put  up.  It  was  managed 
by  Parsees  and  we  were  well  and  cheaply  accommodated 
during  our  stay.  Seeing  that  we  preferred  fish  and  eggs 
on  Friday,  they  very  readily  acceded  to  our  wish  and 
offered  to  do  so  at  any  other  time  we  should  desire. 

The  public  and  private  buildings,  which  we  noticed 
at  our  first  stroll,  were  the  finest  we  had  yet  seen  in  the 
Orient.  They  are  all  substantially  built  of  pressed  brick 
or  hewn  stone,  profusely  embellished  with  architectural 
ornaments.  Only  the  numerous  dark-skinned  people 

130 


SAIL  AT  SUNRISE. 


on  the  thoroughfares  reminded  us,  that  we  were  not 
yet  in  one  of  large  cities  of  Europe.  Beautiful  parks, 
driveways,  and  private  gardens  vary  the  vistas  of 
tasteful  structures  along  the  busy  streets.  The  houses 
and  stores  of  the  better  class  of  natives  are  almost  modern 
and  are  kept  clean  and  in  repairs.  The  pavement  is 
diligently  swept  and  sprinkled  each  day.  One  is  at  a 
loss  to  account  for  the  prevalence  of  the  plague  in  such 
a  well-kept  city,  unless  one  wishes  to  ascribe  it  to  the 
influx  and  presence  of  so  many  natives  from  the  differ- 
ent famine  districts  of  India. 

As  it  was  too  early  to  do  any  business  at  Cook's,  we 
decided  on  a  boat-ride  out  into  the  beautiful  bay.  A 
horde  of  boatmen  immediately  surrounded  us  as  we  ap- 
proached Victoria  bunder.  Each  sought  to  drag  us  to 
his  boat  and  loudly  extolled  the  fine  sailing  qualities  of 
his  particular  craft.  The  most  persistent  won  the  day 
and  bore  us  triumphantly  down  to  the  wharf.  A  fresh 
morning  breeze  bellied  the  white  sail  and  wafted  us 
gently  outward  on  the  placid  sea,  just  as  old  Sol  began 
to  peep  over  the  Ocean's  vault.  Within  the  landlocked 
bay  verdant  islands  peered  over  the  water  and  in  three 
different  directions  military  fortifications  frowned  from 
the  island  hills.  On  every  side  vessels  and  smaller 
boats,  with  and  without  sails,  dotted  the  waters.  Our 
boatman  was  an  Arab  and  he  had  a  young  Malay,  all 
in  rags,  as  a  helper.  They  got  out  a  dish  of  shrimps  of 
which,  uncooked,  they  made  their  morning  meal.  The 
131 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

boat  did  not  belong  to  them,  but  to  an  Englishman  to 
whom  they  were  to  deliver  a  stipulated  sum  every  week. 
The  ordinary  earnings  of  these  boatmen  amounted  to 
eight  rupees  a  week,  that  is  about  $2.75.  Three  rupees 
a  week  was  the  magnificant  salary  paid  to  his  helper. 
No  wonder  they  were  looking  for  bakshish,  poor  fellows. 
We  had  intended  to  visit  the  Elephanta  caves,  which 
are  on  an  island  about  seven  miles  out  in  the  bay.  How- 
ever as  there  was  no  breeze,  we  ordered  our  boatman 
to  return  to  the  nearest  landing,  in  order  to  arrange  for 
our  departure  on  the  O.  and  O.  steamboat  on  March 
3 1  st.  Even  then  we  had  to  wait  a  long  time  at  Cook's 
office,  before  the  clerks  made  their  appearance.  When 
they  finally  straggled  in,  I  found  among  other  letters, 
one  from  Mr.  Neidlinger,  Cook's  agent  in  Chicago. 
He  had  simply  sent  back  to  me  the  blank  application 
for  a  passport,  instead  of  the  passport  itself,  as  agreed. 
The  passports  were  urgently  needed  for  entering  Pales- 
tine and  traveling  in  the  Turkish  dominions.  Mr. 
Lee,  the  American  consul  here,  gave  me  Some  hope  of 
my  being  able  to  obtain  passports  from  Consul  General 
Long  in  Cairo.  The  other  letters  from  friends  at  home 
were  most  pleasant  communications,  assuring  me  that 
all  was  well-  To  crown  my  disappointment,  Cook's 
agent  flatly  refused  to  return  the  coupons,  which  I  had 
sent  to  him  through  the  agent  at  Calcutta,  although  their 
their  return  was  made  a  special  stipulation.  He  knew 
probably,  that  with  the  coupons  untouched,  I  would  have 


FAMINE  REFUGEES. 


been  able  to  enforce  a  refund,  if  I  now  chose  to  take 
passage  on  the  boat  of  some  other  company. 

Walking  through  the  streets  of  Bombay  during  our 
stay  there,  especially  in  the  morning,  we  often  had  to 
guard  against  stepping  on  the  hands  or  feet,  or  stumbling 
over  the  prostrate  forms  of  natives,  bivouacking  on  the 
streets.  Whole  families,  only  half-clad  in  their  rags 
and  with  woebegone  features,  would  thus  pass  the  night 
without  any  shelter  on  the  hard  flags  of  the  sidewalk. 
They  flock  into  Bombay  from  the  famine  districts  to 
find  assistance  for  themselves  and  their  children.  But 
I  am  afraid  they  hardly  improve  their  sad  lot.  The 
city  is  trying  to  keep  them  out,  but  with  little  success. 
They  do  not  seem  to  beg  much,  probably  because  they 
meet  with  few  able  and  willing  to  help.  Their  emaciated 
faces  and  their  stoical  endurance  are  depressing  to  the 
passerby.  Immense  flocks  of  tame  pigeons,  joyously 
cooing  and  playfully  fluttering  about  in  one  of  the  large 
squares,  sleek  and  well-fed,  were  a  sad  contrast  to  the 
miserable  human  forms,  that  were  lying  and  sitting 
around,  trying  to  warm  their  chilled  limbs  in  the  sun- 
shine. 

The  afternoon  of  the  first  day  we  consumed  in  seek- 
ing to  find  a  more  congenial  passage  to  Suez,  than  what, 
very  likely,  the  one  provided  for  by  our  coupons  would 
prove  to  be.  The  fare  on  the  Triester  Lloyds  and  on 
the  Italian  Rubattino,  the  other  competing  lines,  was 
much  cheaper  and  promised  to  be  more  pleasant  than 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

on  the  English  boats,  of  which  we  had  become  heartily 
tired.  Besides,  second  class  passage  would  have  been 
a  welcome  variation.  However,  we  were  handicapped 
by  our  round  trip  tickets  previously  delivered  into  the 
hands  of  Cook's  agency  in  Hongkong  and  Calcatta,  forc- 
ing us  to  abide  with  the  O.  and  O.  steamer,  the  Carthage. 

After  nightfall  we  hunted  up  the  nearest  Catholic 
church  and  found  the  Fort  chapel,  in  the  business  section 
of  Bombay.  Here  was  the  residence  of  Archbishop 
Dahlhoff  and  two  priests,  Frs.  Gretler  and  Hutmacher, 
all  belonging  to  the  Jesuit  order.  As  we  came  after  nine 
o'clock,  we  caused  somewhat  of  a  disturbance  in  the 
modest  establishment.  But  we  were  treated  kindly  both 
then  and  a  few  times  afterwards,  when  I  said  mass  there. 
While  I  read  mass  in  the  chapel  next  morning,  a  whole 
row  of  pews  was  occupied  by  members  of  the  young 
ladies'  sodality,  Europeans  and  Eurasians,  neatly  dressed 
in  white  and  blue  and  wearing  their  veils.  They  were  a 
pretty  sight,  as  they  devoutly  recited  the  office  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception. 

Strolling  up  town,  we  visited  the  imposing  University 
buildings,  surrounded  by  well-kept  parks.  From  the 
tower  of  its  library,  over  two  hundred  feet  high,  we  could 
survey  the  whole  city  and  its  environs.  A  succession  of 
islands  stretches  about  15  miles  southwest  into  the  sea. 
On  the  last  two  or  three,  Bombay  is  built.  From  the 
tower  northward,  a  few  miles  distant,  the  woody  heights 
of  Malabar  hills  rise  out  of  the  sea.  It  is  the  fine  resi- 
134 


BURIAL  BIRDS. 


dence  portion  of  the  Parsees.  On  one  of  the  hills 
rose  the  Tower  of  Silence,  looking  much  like  the  gas 
reservoir  of  a  large  city.  The  top  of  these  towers  is 
covered  by  a  grating.  On  this  grating  the  Parsees  expose 
the  bodies  of  their  dead.  Vultures  gather  and  perch  on 
on  the  wall  around  and  begin  to  tear  the  flesh  from  the 
corpse,  as  soon  as  the  mourners  leave.  The  skeleton 
remains  for  a  time  exposed  to  the  air,  until  it  falls, 
bone  by  bone,  through  the  grating  on  the  ground  below, 
awaiting  the  general  resurrection.  The  Parsees  are  of 
the  belief,  that  is  is  impious  to  contaminate  the  bowels  of 
the  earth  by  consigning  the  corpse  to  the  grave,  or  to 
pollute  the  sacred  fire,  which  they  worship,  by  burning 
the  body.  The  voracious  vultures  easily  and  willingly 
solve  all  their  difficulties  by  tearing  the  obnoxious  corpses 
to  pieces. 

In  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  University  tower, 
on  which  we  stood,  are  grouped  the  University  buildings, 
all  in  fine  gothic  style  and  peering  above  the  beautiful 
shade  trees.  Not  less  splendid  are  the  business  blocks 
and  some  public  buildings  rising  above  the  ordinary 
structures.  The  Bari  Bunder  R.  R.  station,  not  far 
from  our  hotel,  yields  in  size  and  magnificence  to  none  in 
America  or  Europe.  To  the  east  the  wide  bay  spreads 
out  dotted  with  many  islands.  On  the  south  and  west 
stretched  away  the  limitless  Indian  ocean. 

One  meets  a  great  many  Parsees  on  the  streets.  They 
seem  to  be  a  well-to-do  and  influential  part  of  the  popula- 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

tion  in  Bombay.  The  men  wear  a  peculiar  sort  of  cap, 
something  in  the  shape  of  a  fedora  hat  without  the  rim. 
I  was  told  by  a  Parsee,  that  this  cap  is  worn  in  fidelity  to 
a  promise  made  by  the  Parsees,  who  fled  to  Guzerat 
from  the  Mohammedan  persecution  in  Persia.  The 
prince  of  Guzerat  allowed  them  to  settle  in  his  territory 
on  condition,  that  they  and  their  descendants  wear  this 
peculiarly  shaped  hat.  The  Parsees  we  met  were  always 
polite  and  obliging.  They  are  shrewd  and  successful 
business  men.  On  inquiring  about  their  religion,  I  was 
told  by  several  of  them,  that  they  do  not  adore  the  sun  or 
the  fire,  though  they  have  the  name  of  fire-worshippers. 
They  count  the  sun  and  the  fire  among  their  holy  things, 
because  in  their  estimation  they  are  the  most  potent 
manifestations  of  God's  power  and  holiness.  I  am,  how- 
ever, constrained  to  say,  that  I  suspected  these  shrewd 
persons  of  trimming  their  religious  tenets  somewhat,  in 
order  to  make  them  less  objectionable  to  Christian  ears. 
They  are  very  devout  and  are  often  seen  on  the  streets 
and  in  other  public  places  engaged  with  a  prayerbook. 
The  Parsees  hold  education  in  high  esteem  and  are 
earnest  frequenters  of  schools  and  libraries.  They  take 
good  care  of  their  poor  and  have  a  large  charitable  fund 
in  reserve.  But  there  are  few  really  poor  among  them. 
In  their  dress  the  men  differ  little  from  Europeans,  except 
in  the  headgear.  The  women  look  very  pretty  in  their 
light,  graceful  clothing.  An  oblong  square  piece  of  silk 
cloth  is  thrown  over  their  heads  and  falls  in  graceful 
136 


PARSEES. 

folds  over  the  loose  waist  and  picturesque  skirt,  giving 
them  a  madonna-like  appearance.  Their  faces  are 
uncovered  and  they  walk  freely  with  their  husbands  in 
the  streets,  which  is  not  common  with  the  rest  of  the 
natives.  Yet  they  are  modest  in  their  behavior.  It 
may  be,  that  some  share  of  the  good  impression,  which 
these  Parsees  make  on  the  casual  beholder,  is  due  to  the 
natural  shrewdness  of  these  people,  by  which  they  studi- 
ously avoid  giving  any  offense.  We  heard  some  people 
remark,  that  they  love  more  the  outward  show  of  virtue, 
than  the  practice  of  it  for  its  own  sake.  But  what  I 
observed  with  my  own  eyes  would  not  justify  such 
assumption.  A  young  Parsee,  whom  we  happened  to 
ask  for  directions  in  one  of  our  strolls  and  whose  name 
was  Munchershaw  D.  Nasi  Kwala  of  Greaves,  Cotton 
and  Co.,  readily  acceded  to  our  request  and  even  offered 
to  accompany  us  on  our  sight-seeing  in  Bombay. 

I  said  mass  on  the  third  day  in  St.  Xavier's  Jesuit 
college.  It  is  a  large  complex  of  buildings,  affording  all 
modern  conveniences,  except  elevators.  In  the  public 
chapel  a  large  number  of  people  had  gathered.  I  did 
not  return  to  the  college  during  our  stay  in  Bombay,  and 
so  I  cannot  say  much  about  it.  Sunday  is  well  kept  in 
English  colonial  towns  and  even  the  natives  seem  to 
consider  it  a  holiday.  In  the  large  commons,  which 
we  had  to  pass  on  our  way  from  the  college  to  our  hotel, 
there  was  an  encampment  of  several  hundreds  of  natives, 
who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  city  from  the  famine.  They 
137 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

seemed  altogether  destitute  and  slept  upon  the  bare 
ground  during  the  night.  No  provision  for  food  or 
shelter  was  visible.  The  trees  of  the  common  alone 
afforded  them  somewhat  of  a  protection  against  sun  and 
rain.  The  men,  women  and  children  were  sitting  or 
lying  on  the  faded  grass  of  the  park-lawn  and  presented 
a  woebegone  sight. 


138 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

PORTUGUESE  REMNANTS  —  FORT  BASSEIN  —  BORILI 
AND  THE  KENNERY  CAVES  —  RELICS  OF  OBSCENE 
PAGANISM. 

For  the  same  day  we  had  planned  an  excursion  to 
Bassein  and  its  forts,  and  to  the  Kennery  caves.  The 
train  passes  through  the  same  country,  that  we  had 
already  seen  on  Friday  morning  coming  from  Ahmedabad. 
Along  the  west  coast  of  India  there  are  many  traces  of 
the  original  conquests  of  the  Portuguese.  One  of  them 
is  Bassein  fort,  about  twenty  miles  from  Bombay,  and 
three  miles  from  the  railroad.  Three  hundred  years 
ago,  the  Portuguese  erected  a  fort  in  this  place  and  settled 
in  the  nighborhood,  just  as  they  had  done  in  many  other 
places  along  the  coast.  Even  now  in  many  dioceses 
of  India  there  are  two  Catholic  bishops:  a  Portu- 
guese and  a  French  or  German.  They  exercise  in- 
dependent jurisdiction  in  the  same  territory,  and 
there  is  a  certain  amount  of  friction  between  the 
Portuguese  and  the  other  Catholics  on  account  of  this 
abnormal  state  of  church  government. 

At  the  railroad  station  we  hired  a  native  cart  in  order  to 
bring  us  to  Bassein.  The  road  is  but  indifferently  pass- 
able. But  we  were  diverted  during  our  inconvenient  and 
jolting  ride  on  the  cart  by  the  novel  sights  on  the  way. 
J39 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

Groups  of  native  men  and  women,  poorly  clad  and  only 
half  at  that,  passed  us  on  the  way,  some  of  them  carrying 
heavy  bundles  balanced  on  their  heads.  It  seems,  that 
also  here  the  females  must  do  the  hard  and  menial  work, 
for  the  heavy  burdens  were  carried  mostly  by  them. 
They  are  ill-favored  specimens  of  natives,  of  diminutive 
stature  and  neglected  in  their  appearance.  Their  clothes 
were  but  rags,  wrapped  around  their  bodies  and  cer- 
tainly had  not  touched  clean  water  for  a  long  time. 
In  the  village  of  Babri,  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the 
station,  we  unexpectedly  came  upon  a  Catholic  church. 
At  this  parsonage  we  found  a  Portuguese  priest,  at  least 
such  he  appeared  to  be,  to  judge  from  his  features,  though 
his  complexion  was  as  dark  as  that  of  the  natives.  This 
darkness  of  complexion  I  had  occasion  to  notice  very 
often  in  the  descendants  of  Portuguese  in  the  Orient. 
Some  of  them  are  even  darker  than  the  Malays  them- 
selves. The  priest  at  this  place  said  he  had  in  his  parish 
about  2000  Catholics  and  that  he  was  under  jurisdiction 
of  the  archbishop  of  Goa.  He  gave  his  name  as  Rev. 
R.  H.  Barreto,  wara  (dean)  of  Babri,  and  he  seemed 
offended  at  my  taking  him  to  be  a  native.  His  income 
from  the  town  of  Babri  must  have  been  scant,  for  his 
house  was  poorly  furnished  and  his  cassock  looked  as  if 
it  had  done  service  for  the  new  ones,  that  had  failed  to 
turn  up  in  the  last  twenty  years.  There  were  clouds  of 
suspicion  on  his  brow  even  after  I  had  shown  him  my 
celebret;  but  he  offered  us  a  glass  of  wine,  when  he  had 

140 


PORTUGUESE  RUINS. 


sufficiently  comprehended  what  we  told  him  in  Latin,  the 
only  language  that  offered  some  chance  of  communica- 
tion with  him. 

Not  far  from  the  church,  before  entering  the  town  of 
Babri,  the  ruins  of  a  once  famous  heathen  temple  are 
seen  along  the  road.  A  large  pond,  such  as  often  adjoins 
native  temples,  is  still  accessible  on  its  four  sides  by  the 
stairs  descending  to  the  brackish  pool.  The  road  to  the 
fort  of  Bassein  leads  directly  through  the  long-stretched 
bazaar  of  Babri  and  was  filled  with  the  swarming  natives. 
About  a  mile  farther  on,  the  primitive  native  cart  which 
we  were  using  brought  us  to  the  frowning  bastions  and 
towers  of  the  old  fort.  The  granite  walls  are  thirty  feet 
high  all  around  and  on  the  west  side  are  lapped  by  the 
ocean  waves.  They  enclose  a  half  square  mile  of  ground 
along  the  seashore  and  neither  time  nor  exposure  had 
robbed  the  fort  of  its  appearance  of  unlimited  resistance  to 
the  invader.  But  usefulness  had  long  ago  departed  and  it 
now  stands  as  a  ruin,  to  tell  of  the  power  of  the  first  Europ- 
ean invaders  of  India.  As  we  walked  along  the  top  of  the 
rugged  walls,  how  easy  it  was  to  conjure  up  in  imagina- 
tion the  forms  of  Portuguese  adventurers,  manning  the 
port  holes,  scanning  the  blue  ocean,  filling  the  crumbling 
barracks  below  with  noisy  revelry,  lording  it  over  the 
natives  of  the  surrounding  country;  or  the  stately  officers, 
living  in  luxury  in  their  quarters,  or  the  cowled  monk 
within  the  walls  of  the  ruined  convent,  saying  mass  or 
chanting  the  office!  The  roofless  church  still  showed, 
141 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

that  the  Portuguese  united  religion  with  their  conquests. 
Many  a  goodly  fort  the  Portuguese  erected  in  their  palmy 
days  on  these  shores;  now  all  their  power  and  influence 
has  vanished.  So  will,  no  doubt,  the  gnawing  tooth  of 
time  undermine  the  present  power  of  England.  It  will 
be  but  a  just  punishment  for  the  rapacity  and  selfish- 
ness which  she  tries  to  conceal  under  the  cloak  of 
civilization. 

Returning  to  the  station  on  the  same  cart,  we  were 
quickly  brought  to  Borili  on  the  way  back  to  Bombay. 
Some  four  miles  from  this  village,  in  a  neglected  wilder- 
ness are  the  cave  temples  of  Kennery.  We  hired  the 
only  conveyance  that  could  be  had:  an  oxcart  on  two 
wheels  without  springs.  Up  and  down  hill,  over  a  rocky 
trail  and  through  wild  forests,  where  towering  palms 
vied  with  other  leafy  giants,  we  pursued  our  way  in  the 
sultry  afternoon  toward  some  rocky  mountains  east  of 
the  station.  Half  the  time  we  trudged  along  on  foot, 
rather  than  endure  the  rough-and-tumble  ride  in  the 
small  cart.  Under  the  low  arched  canvas  cover  we  could 
not  sit  upright,  but  were  constrained  to  lie  on  our  backs, 
our  feet  dangling  out  of  the  cart  behind.  The  native 
driver  urged  on  his  two  Hindoo  cows  from  his  precarious 
seat  on  the  tongue  between  the  two  animals.  India 
looks  pleasant  and  civilized  enough  to  the  tourists,  who 
stop  in  European  hotels  of  the  large  cities.  But  let  them 
spend  some  time  in  the  villages  or  on  the  by-roads  and  in 
the  jungles  off  the  beaten  track,  and  they  will  see  how 
142 


ROCK-HEWN  TEMPLES. 


far  back,  after  all,  these  people  are  as  yet  in  the  amenities 
of  civilized  life. 

The  temple  caves  are  situated  halfway  up  the  rocky 
declivities  of  a  mountain.  There  was  no  sign  of  habita- 
tion to  be  seen  in  the  neighborhood.  Long  ago  the  city, 
which  no  doubt  gave  occasion  for  constructing  such 
remarkable  temples,  has  disappeared.  The  territory 
around  is  of  volcanic  origin  and  the  footsteps  of  the  visitor 
sound  hollow,  proving  that  the  ground  is  honeycombed 
with  cavities.  Not  a  soul  was  visible  when  we  arrived, 
though  we  had  met  a  few  natives  cutting  bamboo  on  the 
road.  At  a  distance  of  about  a  half  a  mile  from  the  caves, 
our  cart  driver  gave  us  to  understand  that  we  must  walk 
the  rest  of  the  distance,  as  there  was  no  road  up  the 
mountain.  Though  we  could  see  the  dark  opening  of 
the  cave  temples  on  the  brow  of  the  mountain,  no  trail  or 
path  leading  up  to  them  was  visible.  While  searching 
for  a  path,  a  native  suddenly  stepped  out  of  the  bushes, 
making  signs,  that  he  would  be  our  guide.  He  was  as 
perfect  a  specimen  of  the  human  form  as  I  had  yet  seen 
anywhere.  The  only  clothing  he  wore  was  a  lap  of  cloth 
in  front  suspended  from  a  cord  around  his  hips  and  pass- 
ing between  his  legs.  His  skin  was  darker  than  is  usual 
among  the  Malays,  as  he  was  a  Hindoo.  But  one  rarely 
sees  such  well  shaped  and  well  proportioned  limbs,  such 
graceful  carriage,  such  a  combination  of  strength  and 
agility,  as  were  noticeable  in  this  son  of  the  wilderness. 
As  he  preceded  us  up  the  rugged  mountain  trail  the  sun- 
US 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

light,  that  fell  upon  his  slender  dark  form,  revealed  a  won- 
derful pliancy  and  graceful  adaptation  of  the  muscles  to 
the  exertion  of  climbing  the  hill.  At  his  side  a  murderous 
looking  knife  dangled  from  the  cord  around  his  hips. 
No  doubt  he  would  he  a  dangerous  antagonist,  if  at  this 
moment  he  chose  to  turn  around  and  throw  himself  on 
us  for  an  attack.  But  he  was  altogether  peaceful  and 
even  very  considerate  in  calling  our  attention  to  danger- 
ous places  on  the  way. 

As  we  reached  the  openings  of  the  caves,  or  rather  the 
portals  of  the  temples,  a  beautiful  view  of  land  and  sea 
lay  beneath  us.  In  the  far  distance  to  the  south  some  of 
the  steeples  of  Bombay  peered  over  the  hazy  horizon. 
The  first  cave  we  reached  is  the  interior  of  a  complete 
Hindoo  temple,  hollowed  out  from  the  rock.  A  spacious 
atrium  forms  the  entrance,  where  on  both  sides  the  huge 
carvings  of  ancient  gods  stand  out  as  guardians.  Beyond 
this,  in  the  darker  interior,  two  rows  of  huge  pillars,  part 
of  the  native  rock,  aspire  to  the  vaulted  arch  above. 
They  are  crowned  with  capitals  and  support  the  semi- 
circular vaults  of  the  middle  and  the  two  side  naves. 
There  is,  of  course  no  window,  only  the  light  which  enters 
by  the  door  penetrates  with  diminishing  power  to  the 
rear,  leaving  the  background  almost  in  darkness.  But 
after  our  eyes  had  become  somewhat  used  to  the  gloom, 
we  saw  the  huge  obscene  image  connected  with  the  re- 
ligious beliefs  and  practices  of  the  natives.  It  rose  about 
thirty  feet,  carved  from  the  solid  rock  of  the  mountain. 
144 


DESERTED  CELLS. 


Around  this  spot,  no  doubt,  in  former  times  obscene 
rites  and  sacrifices  disgraced  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
though  now  centuries  of  neglect  had  put  a  stop  to  these 
practices.  The  sides  and  vaults  of  the  cavern  temples 
were  adorned  throughout  their  length  with  grotesque 
carvings. 

Steps  hewn  into  the  sides  of  the  mountain  led  away 
from  the  temple  in  all  directions  to  the  dwellings,  con- 
vents and  assembly  halls  of  the  priests,  who  had  attended 
to  the  services.  These  apartments  also  were  cut  into  the 
mountain  sides  and  showed  equal  skill  in  carving  and 
desire  for  ornament.  Ancient  reservoirs  still  held  the 
water  that  sickered  through  the  crevices  of  the  rocks  and 
numberless  openings  led  from  the  large  assembly  halls  to 
lesser  cells  and  chambers  farther  into  the  bowels  of  the 
mountain. 

Our  nimble  guide  accompanied  us  and  showed 
us  the  more  hidden  chambers.  He  received  the 
money,  that  we  gave  him  in  return  for  his  services,  with 
the  air  of  a  prince,  though  his  poverty  must  have  been 
great.  With  many  a  quip  and  joke  about  our  odd  mode 
of  travel  we  jolted  back  over  the  wild  trail  on  our  oxcart. 
We  arrived  just  in  time  to  take  the  train  at  Borili  back  to 
Bombay.  There  we  spent  the  rest  of  the  evening  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  our  hotel.  All  the  streets 
round  about  were  full  of  life.  Flickering  torchlights  of 
the  native  Hindoo  and  Chinese  helped  to  dispel  the  dark- 
ness from  the  wide  streets  and  from  the  great  square 
US 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

in  front  of  the  Bari  Bunder  near  our  hotel.  The  laugh- 
ing and  chatting  of  the  passersby,  the  bartering  at  the 
gaudy  booths,  the  jingling  of  the  horse-cars  and  rattling 
of  cabs,  contrasted  strangely  with  the  stoic  resignation 
of  the  natives,  that  crouched  along  the  walks  with 
famine  and  poverty  written  in  their  faces. 


146 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ELEPHANTA  AND  ITS  CAVE  TEMPLES  —  FAMINE  REFU- 
GEES IN  BOMBAY  —  Ax  POONA  —  WITH  THE  JESUITS 
—  THROUGH  SCORCHED  TABLE-LANDS. 

Next  day  early  found  us  in  a  rowboat  with  three  oars- 
men, riding  over  the  bosom  of  the  bay  to  the  Elephanta 
caves.  The  wind  and  waves  were  in  our  favor,  yet  the 
distance  to  the  island  caves  was  greater  than  we  had 
calculated.  The  easy-going  Hindoos  soon  lagged  in  their 
exertions  at  the  oars.  The  sun  was  beginning  to  shoot 
down  meridian  rays  and  the  cool  breezes  of  the  morning 
subsided.  We  had  discarded  most  of  our  light  duck 
suits  and  improvised  an  awning  as  protection  against  the 
noonday  heat.  However,  smoking  our  cigars  and  banter- 
ing away  the  drowsy  flight  of  time,  we  enjoyed  the  vistas 
of  islands  and  blue  waters  and  of  the  widespread  city, 
sinking  more  and  more  to  the  level  of  the  horizon.  In 
the  north  the  rugged  shore  rose  boldly  out  from  the  sea 
while  the  outlines  of  the  barracks  and  forts  on  some  of 
the  islands  to  the  south  contrasted  with  the  lively  green 
of  the  other  islands  scattered  in  profusion  to  the  east. 
Men-of-war  were  ominously  brooding  on  the  waters  near 
to  the  city.  A  clumsy  Arab  or  Morisco  sailboat,  with  high 
poop  and  square,  ribbed  and  tattered  sails,  moved  slowly 
along,  like  a  vision  from  the  scenes  of  a  thousand  years 
147 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

ago.  Every  now  and  then  our  swarthy  boatmen  amused 
us  by  trying  to  make  us  understand  what  super-human 
exertions  they  were  making  in  order  to  hasten  our  passage. 
But  their  hints  at  bakshish  were  much  more  enduring 
than  their  spurts  at  the  oars. 

The  stone  landing  at  the  foot  of  Elephanta  hill  is 
directly  connected  with  the  stairs,  that  lead  to  the  cave 
temples,  about  half  way  up  the  mountain.  Crowds  of 
natives  immediately  surrounded  us  to  offer  flowers, 
strange  seeds,  walking-sticks  cut  from  the  bushes,  or  in 
fact  anything,  in  order  to  get  bakshish.  Palanquin- 
carriers  almost  forced  us  into  their  uncouth  chairs  in 
order  to  carry  us  up  to  the  entrance  of  the  caves.  We 
preferred  to  walk.  The  grounds  round  about  are  fenced 
by  some  enterprising  land  owner  and  you  are  expected 
to  pay  entrance  fee.  You  are  also  expected  to  pay  the 
guide,  who  takes  you  in  charge  around  the  cave.  These 
caves  are  of  the  same  kind  as  those  at  Kennery,  being 
similarly  cut  into  the  side  of  the  rocky  mountain.  But 
the  carvings  inside  are  more  varied  and  artistic  and  they 
are  better  preserved.  The  ceiling  in  this  temple  is  not 
arched,  but  forms  a  flat  surface,  richly  carved,  divided 
into  square  panels  and  supported  by  ornamented  pillars. 
In  the  centre  of  the  background  in  the  main  temple  the 
image-group  of  the  Hindoo  trinity  stands  forth  from  the 
rock.  Brahma,  the  creator,  is  represented  as  holding  a 
pomegranate,  Vishnu,  the  preserver,  as  bearing  a  lotus 
flower  in  his  hand,  and  Siva,  the  destroyer,  with  a  cobra 
148 


ELEPHANTA. 

snake  wound  round  his  four  arms.  In  a  recess  of  the 
cave  to  the  right  is  represented  the  lustful  prevarication 
of  Siva  with  Parvarti,  in  grotesque  figures.  In  a 
separate  group  in  another  portion  of  the  temple,  Parvarti 
is  seen  as  half  woman,  half  man,  with  one  breast. 
Around  the  walls,  which  form  many  recesses  in  the  half- 
gloom,  other  groups  of  carvings  commemorate  the  heroic 
deeds  of  the  Hindoo  gods.  In  the  rear  is  shown  the  sacrifice 
of  a  child  to  the  gods.  All  the  images  are  skillfully  cut 
out  of  the  native  rock  of  which  the  mountain  is  formed, 
with  many  minor  images  and  adornments  in  between. 

A  separate  cave  temple  adjoins  the  larger  one  and 
contains  representations  of  the  seven  virgins  of  Siva.  Here 
also  stands  the  so-called  holy  thing  of  Hindooism, 
being  the  same  obscene  image  as  that  which  we  had  seen 
in  Kennery  cave.  The  guide  would  not  enter  upon  any 
explanation,  but  passed  it  lightly  over,  being  no  doubt 
instructed  to  that  effect  by  the  owners  of  the  grounds. 
Some  of  the  huge  round  pillars,  and  also  some  of  the 
images,  seemed  to  have  been  violently  broken.  The 
guide  said  that  the  Portuguese  wantonly  pointed  the 
cannon  of  their  men-of-war  into  the  mouth  of  the  cave 
temple  and  bombarded  the  place.  These  sturdy  old 
rovers  of  the  sea,  in  their  zeal  for  the  true  faith,  had  a 
summary  way  of  dealing  with  outward  vestiges  of  heath- 
enism ;  nor  did  they  for  a  moment  consider,  that  senti- 
mental tourists  and  wisely  prating  archeologists  would 
condemn  them  as  vandals.  The  caves  are  about  1300 
149 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

years  old.  A  bustling  flunky  tried  to  electrify  the  sur- 
roundings at  the  refreshment  stand  and  monopolize  the 
attention  of  those  in  charge,  by  announcing  the  approach 
of  "  her  ladyship "  and  companion.  This  pompous 
blusterer  probably  exceeded  the  orders  or  wishes  of  "  her 
ladyship,"  whoever  she  was. 

Again  a  crowd  of  children  surrounded  us  as  we  came 
to  the  landing  place.  Some  of  them  readily  jumped  into 
the  water  after  some  pennies,  that  we  threw  them:  a 
wetting  mattered  little  to  them,  for  they  were  almost 
naked.  On  the  way  back  the  wind  and  waves  were 
against  us  and  the  boatmen  had  to  work  hard  at  their 
oars.  The  beauty  of  the  scenery  was  now  obscured  by 
haziness  and  we  were  rocked  to  sleep  by  the  motion  of 
the  boat.  Once  or  twice  a  boisterous  wave  dashed  over 
the  sides  and  awakened  us  by  a  sudden  drenching.  How- 
ever we  landed  in  safety  in  spite  of  the  unruly  waves. 

From  the  long-stretched  pier  we  wended  our  way 
through  some  narrow  lanes  toward  the  street  cars.  The 
natives  here  live  much  like  Europeans,  in  small  houses 
built  of  brick.  We  came  upon  a  Portuguese  church,  the 
oldest  in  Bombay.  Though  the  church  seemed  well 
furnished,  the  same  could  not  be  said  of  the  parish  house, 
which  was  nearly  bare  of  all  furniture.  It  was  tenanted 
by  three  swarthy  priests,  all  of  them  Portuguese; 
the  youngest  of  them,  however,  spoke  French  very 
well.  He  happened  just  then  to  come  in  from  attendance 
on  a  man  stricken  by  the  plague.  Their  parishoners  are 

150 


HARROWING  POVERTY. 


mostly  descendants  of  the  old  Portuguese,  much  mixed  up 
with  native  blood.  In  fact  I  thought  there  must  be 
much  more  native  than  Portuguese  blood  in  these  priests, 
as  they  were  so  dark-complexioned.  They  receive  very 
small  salaries;  stipends  are  only  one  rupee,  fees  for 
baptisms,  two  rupees,  and  I  rather  suspect  that  very 
often  they  do  not  get  even  those. 

On  the  way  back  to  the  hotel  a  few  coppers,  which  we 
distributed  among  some  woebegone  beggars,  soon  drew  a 
score  of  others.  They  opened  their  eyes  in  wonder  at  our 
unexpected  offer;  for  evidently  they  were  not  accustomed 
to  expect  any  liberality  of  that  kind  on  the  street.  That 
probably  accounts  for  their  despairing  looks,  unaccom- 
panied by  any  spoken  request  to  the  passers-by.  We  had 
intended  to  start  on  our  trip  to  Goa  this  afternoon,  but 
our  boat-ride  had  lasted  too  long.  The  next  best  thing 
to  do  was  to  take  the  night  train  to  Poona  and  proceed 
next  day  on  our  way  to  Goa.  We  had  ordered  two  gray 
suits  of  clothes  at  a  native  tailoring  firm  in  the  down-town 
district,  as  the  white  duck  suits  soiled  too  quickly.  To 
our  disgust  the  orders  had  not  been  attended  to.  Mun- 
cher  Shaw,  the  young  Parsee,  readily  promised  to  urge 
the  tailors  to  have  the  suits  ready  for  the  31  St.,  the  date 
of  our  departure  for  Aden.  With  him  we  visited  the  Par- 
see  library,  a  costly  modern  structure,  which  was  founded 
entirely  by  one  rich  Parsee  of  Bombay.  It  contains  a 
full  library  equipment  and  the  reading  rooms  were 
crowded  with  studious  Parsees.  One  of  the  most  muni- 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

cficent  of  the  Parsees  is  Jeejeebhoy,  the  founder  of  the 
Jeejeebhoy  Institute.  It  was  easy  to  while  away  a  few 
agreeable  hours  in  the  lively  streets  of  Bombay  until 
train  time.  Later  on  we  were  speeding  through  the 
night  to  the  important  town  of  Poona,  about  three  hun- 
dred miles  south  of  Bombay. 

The  night's  ride  gave  us  a  good  shaking  up,  as  the 
seats  were  hard  and  narrow.  But  one  generally  gets  to 
his  destination  on  a  train,  convenience  or  no  convenience, 
if  one  does  not  jump  off  or  if  the  train  does  not  jump  the 
tracks.  In  the  early  part  of  the  night  the  train  had 
climbed  several  thousand  feet  to  the  high  plateau  of  the 
Poona  mountain  district.  The  morning  sun  revealed  to 
us  a  monotonous  plain,  much  parched  for  want  of  rain. 
Around  Poona,  where  we  arrived  about  eight  o'clock, 
the  country  is  a  little  more  undulating.  We  directed  the 
gharry-driver  to  bring  us  to  the  Catholic  St.  Patrick's 
cathedral,  where  the  Jesuit  bishop  Beiderlinden  resides. 
At  first  his  secretary,  father  Frenkamp,  received  my 
request  to  be  allowed  to  say  mass  with  marked  distrust. 
Later,  however,  we  were  hospitably  entertained.  We 
always  managed  to  make  a  return  for  hospitality  shown, 
but  naturally,  on  such  occasions,  one  cannot  offer  it 
beforehand. 

Having  said  mass  and  partaken  of  a  slight  breakfast, 
we  accompanied  the  secretary  on  some  of  his  parish 
visits  in  his  phaeton.  He  afterwards  extended  the  drive, 
so  as  to  show  us  the  town  of  Poona.  One  of  the  largest 

152 


POONA. 

cantonments  of  English  soldiers  is  located  here  and  the 
Cathedral  church  supplies  the  religious  wants  of  the  num- 
erous Catholic  soldiers  in  the  cantonment.  The  Protestant 
Episcopal  church  is  a  fine  structure  surrounded  by  beauti- 
ful gardens.  These  parishes  of  the  established  church 
of  course  are  subsidized  by  the  English  government. 
Poona  is  infected  by  a  more  than  usually  hateful  and 
malicious  set  of  Brahmans,  who  are  bitter  enemies  of  the 
Catholic  church  and  her  priests.  Their  doctrines  are 
to  a  great  extent  devil  worship.  Numerous  temples 
line  the  ways  to  the  old  town  of  Poona.  They  are  not 
large,  but  of  a  peculiar  style  of  architecture.  The  pyra- 
mid towers  of  other  parts  of  India  assume  here  the  shape 
of  a  grotesque  piling  of  cupolas  one  upon  the  other,  while 
the  outside  of  the  temples  is  painted  in  bright  colors  and 
the  figures  of  the  gods  and  godesses  are  particularly 
hideous. 

Poona  was  the  ancient  capital  of  the  Peishwa  kings, 
ruling  over  a  sturdy  and  warlike  race,  which  qualities 
are  easily  read  from  the  faces  of  the  present  inhabitants. 
Since  1817  the  Poona  district  has  been  subjected  to 
English  sway  and  is  a  military  centre.  Many  of  the 
well-to-do  Bombay  people  come  to  Poona  in  order  to 
escape  the  heat  during  the  summer  months. 

In  the  centre  of  the  town  a  fine  modern  building  in  the 
form  of  a  star  affords  all  the  conveniences  of  a  splendid 
market.  The  stalls  of  the  venders  are  arranged  in  syste- 
matic order  and  are  kept  very  clean.  The  variety  of 
153 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

green  vegetables  and  fruits  is  a  novel  sight  in  a  town  of 
mostly  native  population.  I  traded  off  a  few  annas  for 
some  specimens  of  the  ancient  Peishwa  money,  which  are 
irregular  pieces  of  brass  and  copper,  marked  with  rude 
letters. 

On  the  way  back  we  passed  the  Portuguese  church, 
which  is  not  under  jurisdiction  of  the  Jesuit  bishop. 
Father  Frenkamp  seized  the  occasion  to  exchange  a  few 
words  of  greeting  with  his  Portuguese  neighbors,  but  he 
was  rather  distantly  received.  The  Jesuits  conduct  a 
large  school  in  the  native  district  and  the  fathers  and 
brothers,  that  we  met  there,  were  all  Germans.  We  had 
a  very  pleasant  chat  with  Bishop  Beiderlinden  at  dinner. 
The  rest  of  the  afternoon  we  whiled  away  partly  in  a 
siesta,  partly  in  the  soldiers'  clubroom  behind  the  parish 
house.  A  number  of  the  soldiers  came  straggling  in 
while  we  played  at  billiards.  They  had  about  them  a 
good  deal  of  the  reserve  of  the  English,  so  that  not  much 
was  said  on  either  side. 

After  bidding  a  hearty  good-bye  to  our  kind  host,  we 
boarded  the  train  for  Goa.  As  our  train  rushed  across 
the  country  the  evening  sunshine  slanted  over  dreary 
wastes  or  occasional  villages  of  rude  huts.  When  dark- 
ness gradually  stole  over  the  land,  we  took  what  uneasy 
sleep  we  were  able  to  get  on  the  seats  of  our  coupe*.  In 
these  elevated  plateau  regions  the  nights  are  cool  and 
we  sorely  felt  the  want  of  sufficient  covering.  During 
the  next  day,  until  after  noontime,  we  passed  through  a 
154 


To  GOA. 

dreary  waste  of  burnt-out  hills  and  valleys.  It  seemed 
as  if  there  had  not  been  any  rain  for  a  generation.  The 
remaining  vestiges  of  grass  and  other  vegetation,  and 
even  the  ground,  had  assumed  the  appearance  of  a  district 
scorched  by  prairie-fire.  The  hideous  desolation  of  the 
country  had  been  followed  by  gaunt  famine,  of  which  we 
only  too  often  were  reminded  by  the  haggard  faces  of  the 
natives  around  the  stations.  At  some  places  a  piteous 
wailing  of  the  beggars  arose  as  the  train  stopped.  Our 
train  was  making  but  slow  progress  on  account  of 
tedious  and  inexplicable  stops.  At  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  the  country  assumed  a  more  cheerful  aspect. 
The  train  entered  Goa  territory  at  Castle  rock.  We 
would  certainly  have  been  held  in  quarantine  at  Collun, 
if  it  had  not  been  for  the  timely  warning  of  Melle  Castro, 
a  friendly  railroad  official  of  Goa,  who  told  us,  that  unless 
we  would  take  some  precaution  we  would  be  held  at 
least  24  hours.  This  would  have  been  fatal  to  our 
embarkation  on  the  Carthage.  We  therefore  joined  his 
company  and  the  company  of  some  Portuguese  priests, 
with  whom  he  was  traveling.  He  took  care  to  explain 
circumstances  to  the  sanitary  officers,  and  so  we  were 
allowed  to  pass. 


155 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

NARROW  ESCAPES — TROPICAL  SPLENDOR  —  MORMUGAO 
AND  PANJIM  —  WATCHED  BY  THE  POLICE  —  "  His 
TOMB  SHALL  BE  GLORIOUS  "  —  MASS  UNDER  DIFFI- 
CULTIES. 

The  small  territory  of  Goa  is  certainly  the  garden  of 
India.  Not  a  sign  of  famine  or  drought  was  to  be  seen 
within  it,  but  mountain,  hill  and  valley  are  clothed  in 
deepest  verdure  of  tropical  vegetation.  After  passing 
through  the  arid  famine  districts,  it  was  refreshing  to 
view  again  the  palm  groves,  the  fertile  valleys,  the  wind- 
ing stream  and  the  gushing  spring.  The  railroad  leads 
directly  up  into  a  mountain  pass  along  the  side  of  a 
rocky  spur.  Having  reached  a  great  elevation  it  con- 
tinues along  the  summit,  shooting  into  dark-mouthed 
tunnels,  where  the  abrupt  spurs  jut  out,  and  curving 
around  the  adjoining  gulches  of  the  mountains.  Peace- 
fully in  the  evening  sun,  far  below  us,  lay  the  vast  and 
pleasant  valley,  stretching  out  toward  the  blue  ocean. 
Its  green  fields  and  luxuriant  groves  were  watered  by 
silvery  streams.  Suddenly,  as  the  train  dashed  around 
a  sharp  cliff,  the  white  foam  of  a  cascade  caught  our  eye. 
Headlong  the  gleaming  water  fell  over  the  red  rocks  high 
above,  forming  ledge  upon  ledge  of  dazzling  spray  in  the 
sunlight  as  is  struck  the  terraced  cliffs,  until  it  disap- 
peared in  the  impenetrable  foliage  of  the  abyss  below. 
156 


KIND  FELLOW-TRAVELERS. 


Only  for  the  kindness  of  the  Portuguese  priest,  F.  H. 
Franco,  who  was  on  a  visit  to  his  native  Goa  from  the 
college  in  Mylapore,  Madras,  and  in  whose  company  we 
had  successfully  escaped  quarantine,  we  would  that  night 
have  been  stranded  this  side  of  Goa  as  moneyless  beggars. 
We  were  completely  at  our  rope's  end  with  our  native 
money,  and  there  was  no  chance  of  drawing  any  until 
we  should  reach  Goa.  He  told  us  that  we  would  be 
carried  by  the  cars  only  as  far  as  Pegaum.  From  there 
we  would  have  to  take  passage  on  a  steamer  across  Mor- 
mugao  bay.  Though  the  amount  required  for  passage 
was  small,  yet  we  would  very  likely  have  had  great 
difficulty  in  procuring  free  passage  or  passage  on  credit. 
When  I  told  him  about  our  predicament,  he  readily 
promised  to  advance  the  amount  necessary,  though  he 
said  there  would  probably  be  no  chance  of  again  meeting 
him  in  Goa.  But  he  said  we  could  pay  the  amount  to 
one  of  his  companions.  Fr.  Franco  is  president  of  St. 
Thomas  college  near  Mylapore,  which  he  said  is  reputed 
to  be  the  place  where  the  apostle  St.  Thomas  was  mar- 
tyred. 

The  inhabitants  of  Goa  have  an  unbounded  faith  in 
the  power  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  and  his  tomb  is  held  in 
deep  veneration.  Castro  Melle  was  especially  enthu- 
siastic in  his  praises  of  the  saint.  He  asserted,  owing  to 
his  intercession,  famine  never  approached  Goa,  no  matter 
how  prevalent  it  may  be  in  other  parts  of  India.  He  was 
present  at  the  opening  of  the  tomb  seven  years  ago. 
157 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

With  his  own  eyes  he  had  seen  a  man  born  blind  suddenly 
recover  his  sight,  and  a  Protestant  lady,  who  had  been 
carried  to  the  church  at  her  earnest  entreaties,  was 
entirely  cured  of  paralysis  of  many  years'  standing. 
These  two  miracles,he  said,  he  had  witnessed  personally; 
many  other  miracles  are  known  to  him  through  the  testi- 
mony of  friends. 

It  was  already  dark  when  the  train  arrived  at  Mor- 
mugao  harbor.  There  was  little  management  and  much 
confusion  among  the  passengers  before  they  were  safely 
embarked  on  the  rocking  ferryboat.  To  my  surprise  I 
found  the  boat  under  English  management;  but  I  did 
not  wonder  afterwards,  when  I  saw  what  Rip  Van  Win- 
kles these  Portuguese  are. 

Scarcely  had  the  ferry  left  the  sheltering  bend  of  the 
shore,  when  she  began  to  be  tossed  about  like  a  cockle- 
shell. There  were  few  that  did  not  show  signs  of  sea- 
sickness. It  is  eight  miles  across  the  Mormugao  bay 
to  Panjim,  but  the  ferry  had  been  a  full  hour  under  way 
before  she  rubbed  up  against  the  shaky  landing  of  Pan- 
jim or  New  Goa.  It  was  too  dark  to  distinguish  much 
along  the  shore,  for  the  few  dim  lights  revealed  only 
some  low  buildings,  which  seemed  small  shops,  or  ware- 
houses in  a  crumbling  condition.  One  of  the  priests 
showed  us  to  a  rickety  hotel  with  the  high  sounding  name 
of  Hotel  of  India.  It  looked  to  be  more  like  a  disused 
dwelling  house  of  bygone  centuries.  A  boy  who  knew 
a  few  English  words  appeared  at  the  door  and  conducted 
158 


DREAMLAND. 


us  to  the  padrone.  This  gentleman  seemed  to  care  very 
little  how  affairs  were  getting  along  in  his  establishment, 
as  long  as  he  could  expect  a  slender  stream  of  perquisites. 
The  personnel  of  the  India  hotel  consisted  of  this  easy- 
going landlord,  whom  we  saw  only  once  more,  when  we 
settled  our  accounts,  the  aforesaid  lad  and  another 
youngster,  who  made  a  prodigious  noise  with  the  dishes 
after  meals  in  some  dark  room  to  the  rear  upstairs.  We 
were  the  only  guests.  I  suppose  there  are  other  hotels 
in  Goa,  but  in  our  strolls  through  town  next  day  we 
certainly  found  no  exterior  signs  of  astonishing  enterprise 
in  the  hotel  line.  The  whole  Portuguese  settlement 
seems  to  have  gone  asleep  two  hundred  years  ago  and  to 
be  still  dozing  on,  gratuitously  fed  by  the  exuberant  soil 
and  fanned  by  the  cool  breezes  of  the  sea,  that  sweep 
through  the  magnificent  palm  groves.  The  part  in 
which  we  had  landed  is  called  New  Goa,  but  it  must 
have  remained  "  new "  for  a  long  time,  to  judge 
from  the  houses  and  public  buildings  it  contains. 
They  would  make  up  a  very  respectable  old  tinier  of  a 
town  in  America.  But  for  the  present  we  crowded  back 
all  these  thoughts  in  our  eagerness  to  get  something  for 
the  interior  man. 

We  were  almost  surprised,  when  in  a  moderately  short 
time  the  youngster  brought  us  a  substantial  meal  and  a 
bottle  of  fiery  wine,  to  both  of  which  we  did  ample  jus- 
tice. Afterwards,  a  short  walk  along  the  wharf,  (if  you 
wish  to  call  the  street  running  along  the  water's  edge  a 
159 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

wharf),  was  not  conducive  toward  keeping  us  awake 
very  long.  Most  of  the  people  were  already  in  bed, 
though  it  was  not  yet  nine  o'clock.  The  electric  light 
of  the  English  ferryboat  cast  a  flood  of  light  on  its  imme- 
diate surroundings,  whereas  farther  on  a  lonely  lantern 
flickered  in  front  of  a  house  here  or  there.  As  far  as 
business  was  concerned  or  the  pursuits  of  nightly  pleasure 
seekers,  it  made  little  difference:  darkness  would  just  as 
well  answer;  neither  business  nor  pleasure  seemed 
potent  enough  to  stir  the  inhabitants.  We,  too,  returned 
to  seek  retirement.  Before  we  did  so,  however,  we  sent 
the  black-eyed  youngster  to  procure  a  carriage  for  our 
early  morning  trip  to  the  tomb  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  in 
old  Goa.  He  returned,  assuring  us  that  a  carriage 
would  certainly  be  in  readiness  at  an  early  hour.  Then 
we  retired  to  our  primitive  beds,  sleeping  the  sleep  of 
tired  travelers  in  spite  of  the  sultry  weather. 

Blissfully  ignorant  of  what  these  people  understand 
by  an  early  hour,  we  arose  at  five  o'clock  and  were  ready 
for  our  drive  at  six.  In  vain  we  looked  out  of  the  window 
up  and  down  the  absolutely  quiet  street  for  the  promised 
vehicle.  Not  a  sign  of  life  from  man  or  beast.  But  yes, 
after  the  sun  had  risen  already  high  over  the  verdant 
mountains,  and  was  glaring  into  the  silent  streets,  we 
see  a  form  slowly  moving  around  the  nearest  corner  of 
the  street.  Is  it  possible  that  they  have  need  of  a  police- 
man in  this  dreamland?  He  looks  drowsily  up  to  our 
window  and  begins  to  stare  in  wonder:  people  already 
1 60 


MISTRUSTED. 


dressed,  talking  quite  loudly,  looking  out  of  the  window, 
and  not  yet  seven  o'clock  ?  It  must  be  a  discovery  to 
him,  which  can  well  bear  farther  investigation.  He  turns 
to  pace  up  and  down  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street. 
And  now  he  hears  a  carriage  coming  toward  the  hotel : 
what  can  it  all  mean?  As  if  petrified  with  amazement 
he  stands  not  ten  steps  a  way  in  order  to  unravel  the 
mystery  of  such  early  commotion.  He  watches  our 
every  move,  as  we  hasten  out  of  the  door  and  start  on 
our  way.  We  must  have  figured  largely  in  his  reports 
at  police-headquarters  that  day. 

No  one  is  allowed  to  say  mass  on  the  tomb  of  Saint 
Francis  without  special  permission  from  the  ordinary  of 
the  diocese.  Passing  the  great  white  church,  located  on  a 
hill  and  surrounded  by  beautiful  gardens,  we  had  to 
leave  the  carriage  and  climb  up  through  some  narrow 
lanes  paved  with  cobble-stones,  to  reach  the  vicar  gen- 
eral's house.  On  our  way  we  met  a  few  scurvy  dogs  and 
some  skinny  pigs,  that  seemed  heartily  ashamed  of  being 
up  so  early.  The  Vicar-general  certainly  did  not  live  in 
the  best  quarters  of  the  town,  we  thought.  But  he  was 
astir,  as  we  saw  on  entering  the  ground  floor  of  his  dwell- 
ing. The  room  was  almost  bare  of  furniture  and  the  floor 
consisted  of  the  beaten  ground.  The  reverend  gentleman 
was  sitting  in  old  worn-out  slippers  without  coat  or  vest, 
on  one  of  the  rickety  chairs,  talking  to  a  man  of  still 
darker  complexion  than  himself.  He  looked  at  me  and 
at  the  celebret  with  a  puzzled  air,  as  if  he  could  not  for 

161 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

the  world  make  out  what  connection  I  and  that  paper 
had  with  himself.  He  returned  the  paper  to  me  after 
a  short  pause  without  taking  the  trouble  to  examine 
the  document  and  told  me  to  show  it  to  the  presidio  of  the 
convent,  where  I  wanted  to  celebrate.  What  else  was 
there  for  me  to  do,  than  to  proceed  on  the  way  to  old  Goa 
and  take  my  chances? 

The  road  to  old  Goa  must  be  a  remnant  of  the  times, 
when  the  Goese  were  still  agoing,  at  least  easily.  It  is  a 
fine  drive,  five  miles  long,  between  two  strong  walls,  one 
to  shut  off  the  waters  of  the  sea  and  the  other  to  keep 
back  the  high  waters  of  the  lowlands  in  the  rainy  season. 
Seats  were  arranged  at  intervals  as  resting  places  for 
foot  passengers.  On  each  side  of  the  road  the  wall  rose 
a  few  feet  higher  than  the  road:  a  good  thing  for  any 
driver  that  wanted  to  go  to  sleep  on  the  way:  he  had  the 
assurance  that  his  horses  or  oxen  would  at  least  not 
dump  him  into  the  sea.  The  fresh  morning  sunshine 
rested  on  the  landscape  to  the  right  and  on  the  blue 
expanse  of  the  ocean  to  the  left.  White  walls  of  churches 
gleamed  from  the  hilltops  or  through  the  palm-groves  in 
the  valleys.  Ahead  of  us  the  straggling  houses  of  old 
Goa,  the  tops  of  some  ruins  and  the  renaissance  steeples 
of  the  larger  churches  began  to  appear.  There  is  only 
one  street  in  old  Goa.  It  winds  along  the  base  of  a  hill 
and  the  few  old  shops,  one  or  two  wine  taverns  and  the 
huts  in  peaceful  decay,  gave  the  impression  of  dreamy 
decline  and  yet  not  of  neglect.  It  is  hard  to  believe,  that 
162 


DREAMY  DECLINE. 


this  little  straggling  village  once  rang  with  the  shout  of 
the  Portuguese  adventurers,  saw  the  glittering  pageant  of 
Portuguese  governors  and  their  retainers,  or  ever  was 
the  centre,  from  which  the  Portuguese  sway  extended  for 
thousands  of  miles  along  the  coasts  of  India,  Ceylon,  the 
islands  of  the  Pacific  and  even  to  the  coasts  of  China. 

There  must  be  about  ten  magnificient  churches  in  this 
little  town,  which  hardly  exceeds  the  size  of  a  hamlet. 
And  besides  there  are  numerous  ruins  of  other  churches 
in  the  neighborhood.  The  archbishop  of  Goa  holds 
independent  sway  over  about  800  priests,  a  great  number 
of  whom  reside  here.  No  doubt  Goa  must  have  formerly 
been  a  large  city,  for  the  largest  and  most  splendid 
churches  are  at  quite  a  distance  from  the  cluster  of  houses 
at  the  foot  of  the  hill.  The  church  which  contains  the 
tomb  of  St.  Francis,  is  that  of  St.  Monica,  or  Bom  Jesu, 
as  the  Portuguese  call  it.  It  is  not  the  largest  nor  the 
most  magnificent.  The  great  convent  of  St.  Monica  is 
connected  with  it.  The  renaissance,  mixed  with  certain 
features  of  architecture  peculiar  to  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  colonies,  is  the  style  of  this  and  the  other 
churches  of  Goa.  Most  conspicuous  among  the  orna- 
ments of  the  church  of  Bom  Jesu,  is  the  great  high  altar, 
one  splendid  mass  of  gilded  woodcarving  rising  to  the 
apsis  of  the  sanctuary  and  filling  out  the  whole  back- 
ground. In  the  side  chapel,  which  contains  the  remains 
of  St.  Francis,  is  also  a  magnificently  gilded  altar. 
Above  the  mensa  of  this  altar  rests  the  great  silver  casket, 

163 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

wherein  his  body  is  enclosed.  It  is  richly  carved  and 
bedecked  with  jewels.  When  we  entered  the  church, 
only  one  old  priest  was  saying  mass  at  the  rear  of  this 
altar.  The  sacristan  did  not  understand,  or  did  not 
want  to  understand  my  request,  but  at  last  referred  me 
to  the  presidio  of  the  convent.  A  boy  conducted  us 
through  a  court  and  vast  corridors.  A  number  of  stone 
cutters  were  employed  in  the  corridors  replacing  a  stair- 
way. It  struck  us  as  strange,  that  any  repairs  should  be 
going  on  in  this  sleepy  neighborhood. 

A  swarthy  Portuguese  came  out  of  a  room  in  the  second 
floor  and  eyed  us  suspiciously.  It  took  him  a  long  while 
to  read  the  celebret  and  what  I  said  to  him  in  Latin  he 
did  not  seem  to  understand.  However,  he  told  the  boy 
to  conduct  me  to  another  great  church  across  a  wide 
meadow.  Their  distrust  was  getting  to  be  more  than 
amusing.  They  probably  could  not  understand,  why  I 
had  not  appeared  before  them  in  a  cassock,  if  I  wanted 
to  say  mass.  I  followed  the  boy  into  the  sacristy  of  the 
other  church.  This  sacristy  was  richly  decorated  and 
large  enough  to  form  a  good  sized  church  by  itself.  The 
paintings  and  carvings  alone  must  have  cost  a  fortune. 
A  score  of  mostly  gray-haired  canons,  or  bishops,  (for  all 
I  knew,)  were  either  getting  ready  for,  or  just  absolving 
the  morning  service.  At  any  rate  our  appearance  among 
them  caused  quite  a  stir.  Here  my  celebret  went  from 
hand  to  hand,  each  scrutinizing  it  and  making  comments 
until  it  reached  a  dignified  and  particularly  aged-looking 
164 


SIGHT-SEEING  UNDER  DIFFICULTIES. 

man.  He  argued  with  the  others  and  finally  told  me  in 
Latin,  that  I  certainly  could  say  mass  anywhere,  as  the 
papers  were  quite  clear.  He  sent  the  boy  back  with  me 
to  the  presidio  of  St.  Monica's.  But  I  had  had  enough 
of  him  and  tried  to  coax  the  sacristan  to  get  things  ready 
for  the  celebration  of  mass.  As  he  hesitated,  I  began  to 
vest,  but  unfortunately  I  needed  his  services,  at  least  in 
order  to  procure  wine.  He  went  upstairs  and  no  doubt 
argued  the  whole  matter  over  again  with  the  presidio, 
letting  me  wait  a  long  time.  Persistance  carried  the  day, 
for  he  came  at  last  and  served  my  mass  at  the  tomb  of 
St.  Francis.  Of  course  a  great  deal  of  the  devotion,  which 
I  had  expected  to  feel  in  celebration  at  this  renowned 
shrine,  was  lost  on  account  of  the  previous  annoyances. 
But  nevertheless,  I  considered  myself  fortunate  in  pro- 
curing this  privilege,  even  with  difficulty. 

There  was  no  hotel  nor  restaurant  of  any  kind  in  this 
neighborhood,  and  I  felt  in  no  mood  to  trouble  any  one 
connected  with  the  church  for  a  breakfast.  So  we  drove 
off  immediately  to  visit  the  other  places  of  interest.  A 
bevy  of  persistent  beggars  stood  at  the  church  doors: 
they  probably  would  have  gotten  a  more  generous  alms 
if  I  had  not  been  treated  with  so  much  distrust.  The 
driver  took  us  first  to  the  former  habitation  and  the 
favorite  chapel  of  St.  Francis.  The  well,  which  was  dug 
by  St.  Francis  himself,  and  which  is  considered  miraculous 
by  the  natives,  is  so  wide,  that  stairs  had  been  built  to 
the  bottom,  fifty  feet  down.  But  the  well  and  its 
165 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

surroundings  are  allowed  to  go  to  ruin.  Farther  along 
the  road  we  came  upon  another  beautiful  church  and 
extensive  convent.  The  church  is  surmounted  by  a  fine 
cupola.  The  convent  occupies  one  side  of  a  large  garden 
and  it  contains  the  apartments  and  much  of  the  furniture 
once  used  by  the  great  explorer,  Vasco  da  Gama.  Here 
he  resided  as  governor  of  Goa,  400  years  ago.  At  every 
turn  new  churches  and  convents  could  be  seen  peeping 
from  behind  trees  or  towers  and  cupolas  overtopping  the 
palms.  The  pure  white  of  the  walls  contrasted  pleas- 
antly with  the  deep  green  of  the  foliage. 

But  I  am  afraid  we  were  not  in  a  fit  state  of  mind  to 
appreciate  fully  the  beauties  of  the  scenery  and  the 
magnificence  of  the  building  which  we  visited.  An 
empty  stomach  is  apt  to  keep  enthusiasm  well  within 
ordinary  bounds,  even  on  extraordinary  occasions.  I 
wondered  much  at  the  number  and  size  of  these  churches 
built  a  mile  or  more  away  from  the  village,  all  the  inhabit- 
ants of  which  would  not  fill  even  one  of  the  larger  side- 
chapels.  Yet  they  probably  were  much  too  small  to 
contain  the  thousands  that  flocked  to  this  paradise  on 
feast  days  in  former  times.  The  houses  and  the  people 
around  the  churches'  have  long  since  disappeared. 
These  churches  are  only  vestiges  of  the  former  splendor 
and  the  numerous  priests,  that  are  established  in  them 
to  the  present  day,  no  doubt  are  living  on  the  rich  endow- 
ments of  former  times. 


1 66 


CHAPTER  XVH. 

MAKING  THE  MOST  OF  THE  AMERICAN  EAGLE  —  IN 
SLEEPY  HOLLOW  —  MORE  FINANCIAL  TROUBLES  — 
SKIRTING  THE  MALABAR  COAST  —  LEAVING  INDIA 
—  PRACTICAL  HINTS. 

Looking  for  some  kind  of  tavern  or  hotel,  we  returned 
to  the  straggling  cluster  of  houses  of  old  Goa.  Through 
the  open  door  of  one  of  them  we  saw  a  few  men  sitting 
around  a  table.  On  entering  and  asking  for  something 
to  eat  or  drink,  a  stout,  swarthy  host  came  from  the  dark 
background  and  appeared  to  understand  our  wants. 
But  as  to  fulfilling  them,  he  seemed  in  a  quandary.  His 
house  was  no  doubt  considered  as  the  great  emporium 
of  saleable  articles  in  this  mouldering  town;  for  the 
dingy  room  was  scantily  stored  with  the  most  ordinary 
articles  of  household  use,  lying  about  in  ancient  dust  and 
scattered  through  the  dark  corners  or  on  rickety  shelves 
and  tables.  What  an  old  curiosity  shop  it  was!  And 
yet  the  owner  seemed  perfectly  contented.  After  diverse 
questions  in  Portuguese,  imperfectly  understood  just 
like  our  answers  and  signs,  he  brought  forth  from  the 
gloomy  room  in  the  rear  a  dusty  bottle  and  poured  out  a 
dark  liquid,  which  proved  to  be  but  indifferent  wine. 
Not  a  bite  of  bread  was  forthcoming,  only  a  crust  of  dried- 
out  cheese.  However,  that  was  somewhat  of  a  beginning 
167 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

in  the  line  of  eatables  and  our  hopes  were  again  on  the 
rise.  Vainly,  nevertheless:  we  had  to  postpone  our 
breakfast  until  we  should  again  arrive  at  India  hotel. 

It  had  become  absolutely  necessary  to  procure  some 
Indian  or  Portuguese  money,  as  the  small  amount  which 
we  had  borrowed  from  the  hotel  keeper  last  night  was 
fearfully  on  the  wane.  There  is  a  bank  in  New  Goa, 
which  we  found  hidden  away  somewhere  in  a  by -street. 
It  had  a  counting  room  upstairs,  in  which  the  counting 
seemed  to  bear  but  a  subordinate  part.  One  man  sat 
before  a  large  ledger  with  a  dreamy  air,  another  was  idling 
away  his  time  behind  a  partition  or  railing  in  the  other 
half  of  the  room.  Our  letters  of  credit  were  turned  this 
way  and  that;  the  endorsements  of  the  large  banks  in 
Hongkong,  Calcutta,  Singapore,  Bombay  had  no  charm 
for  them.  My  circular  notes  of  Cook  and  Company? 
Conundrums.  The  American  Express  coupons  ?  Never 
heard  of  them.  I  hauled  out  an  American  Eagle: 
"  Ah,  oro  Americano! "  The  jewelers  are  sometimes  very 
anxious  to  get  "  oro  Americano,"  on  account  of  its  fine- 
ness. It  woke  them  up  sufficiently  to  offer  its  value  in 
rupees  or  francs  with  a  discount  of  25  per  cent.  But  then 
they  must  go  over  to  the  jeweler  to  have  it  weighed.  We 
were  too  patriotically  business-like  to  have  the  most 
beautiful  and  the  most  reliable  gold  coin  in  the  world 
undergo  such  a  process  of  weighing  and  such  a  deprecia- 
tion. Come  what  may,  we  trusted  to  luck  and  the  intrin- 
sic value  of"  oro  Americano  "  to  carry  us  out  of  this  and 
1 68 


BANKING  IN  GOA. 


any  other  predicaments.  We  left  these  Goese  bankers 
at  their  EASE  and  did  the  GOING  ourselves,  though  as  it 
afterwards  turned  out,  not  at  our  ease. 

But  the  protests  of  the  inner  man  in  the  meanwhile 
became  more  and  more  imperious.  So  we  went  to  the 
hotel  and  sat  down  to  our  dinner  in  willful  forgetfulness 
of  what  might  be  our  lot  as  moneyless  gold,  and  bank- 
draft  owners  in  this  sleepy  old  town.  Perhaps  we  could 
yet  find  and  wake  up  some  dreaming  jeweler  by  the 
clinking  of  the  American  eagles  before  night.  Or  may 
be  our  jolly  host  had  more  appreciation  for  the  good 
round  pieces  than  the  befuddled  bankers.  So  we 
cleaned  up  everything  on  the  cracked  plates  and  platters 
of  the  India  hotel  and,  like  consummate  and  conscience- 
less deadbeats,  laid  down  for  a  well  deserved  siesta. 

When  the  heat  of  the  sun  had  somewhat  lessened,  we 
took  a  stroll  along  the  old  breakwater  and  then  through 
the  town,  past  the  market,  always  in  a  kind  of  surprise,  that 
there  should  be  any  houses  or  any  kind  of  life  at  all  in 
this  dreamland.  On  the  market  there  were  a  few  sellers, 
fewer  buyers  and  many  empty  stalls.  On  the  outskirts 
we  came  to  some  soldiers'  barracks  under  magnificent 
palmtrees.  Whether  there  were  any  soldiers  sleeping 
within,  we  could  not  find  out;  at  any  rate,  though  the 
buildings  are  neatly  kept,  they  gave  forth  no  sign  of  activ- 
ity. How  magnificently  those  cocoa-palms  waved  above 
in  the  gentle  zephyr!  Farther  on  there  stood  a  few  native 
huts  under  the  trees,  where  the  granite  road  leads  over  the 

169 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

canal  bridge.  The  center  of  the  fine  stone  bridge  was 
flanked  by  two  monuments  with  the  names  of  old  govern- 
ors chiselled  in  their  base.  Seats  invited  to  take  a  rest 
and  to  enjoy  the  beautiful  view  out  upon  the  blue  ocean. 
In  the  convent  garden  to  the  right  some  nuns,  dressed  in 
black  gowns  and  great  white  hoods,  were  quietly  taking 
a  walk.  After  some  time  two  or  three  officers,  dressed 
in  dark-green  and  gold-bordered  uniforms,  Were  coming 
up  the  road  with  their  wives  or  sweethearts,  proving  that 
sometimes  the  inmates  of  the  barracks  are  awake  in  spite 
of  all  appearances  to  the  contrary. 

Bordering  the  canal,  immediately  before  coming  to  the 
bridge,  a  wide  enclosure  was  strewn  with  great  heaps  of 
cocoanut.  Workmen  were  breaking  them  up  in  order 
to  let  the  white  pulp  dry  in  the  sun.  Great  quantities  of 
the  pulp  lay  around  and  the  foreman  gave  us  to  under- 
stand, that  it  is  thus  shipped  to  the  mills  for  extracting 
the  oil.  Returning  by  another  route  from  our  stroll,  we 
saw  some  very  neat  residences,  but  the  few  streets 
remained  quiet  and  only  here  and  there  a  business  house 
could  be  seen.  The  only  signs  of  sociability,  that  we 
could  see,  were  two  men,  sitting  in  front  of  what  must  have 
been  a  cafe*,  taking  some  of  the  cooling  drinks. 

We  had  exchanged  a  five  dollar  gold  piece  during  the 
day  at  considerable  loss.  But  when  we  came  to  settle 
our  hotel  bills,  we  were  two  rupees  short.  I  asked  the 
hotelkeeper  to  let  that  little  amount  stand,  until  I  should 
have  a  chance  to  send  it  to  him  by  mail.  He  would  not 
170 


ROUGH  AWAKENING. 


hear  of  that  proposition,  and  yet  he  did  not  wish  to  accept 
of  any  of  the  American  gold  pieces  at  a  reasonable  dis- 
count, convincing  us  that,  when  it  comes  to  settlement 
of  money  matters,  even  the  Portuguese  wake  up.  It 
was  only  after  I  threatened  to  leave  at  any  rate,  that  he 
sent  the  boy  over  to  the  jeweler  and  finally  agreed  to 
more  favorable  terms. 

We  had  to  be  off,  if  we  wished  to  be  certain  of  catching 
the  Carthage  for  Suez  on  the  3ist  of  March.  My  com- 
panion seemed  somewhat  broken  up  by  the  hardships  of 
our  strenuous  travel  in  the  last  six  weeks.  I  regretted 
this  so  much  the  more,  as  we  would  probably  find  scant 
accomodations  on  the  Shanara,  which  was  even  now 
taking  her  cargo  preparatory  to  her  voyage  to  Bombay. 
She  was  only  a  ferry  boat  with  open  decks.  At  eleven 
o'clock  she  bore  away  from  the  dimly  lighted  wharf  into 
the  dark  waters  of  the  sea. 

The  Shanara  was  intended  only  for  native  travel,  with 
open  deck,  no  berths,  no  cabins,  no  meals  for  passengers. 
They  were  supposed  to  bring  their  own  accomodations 
with  them.  As  she  rocked  through  the  damp  atmosphere 
out  upon  the  unruly  waves,  we  made  up  our  minds  that 
we  would  have  to  rough  it  for  the  next  forty  hours. 
Like  a  fiend  the  little  imp  of  a  boat  began  to  sway  and 
splurge  on  the  ocean  swell.  Some  poet  said,  that  the 
ship  moves  over  the  sea  like  a  thing  instinct  with  life: 
she  was  instinct  not  only  with  one  life,  but  with  that  of  a 
thousand  bucking  bronchos  gone  on  a  rampage.  If  she 
171 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

did  not  throw  us  all  off  into  the  sea,  she  did  the  next 
thing  to  it:  she  made  us  throw  up  (beg  pardon  of  the 
readers).  We  soon  came  to  the  conclusion,  that  if  there 
was  any  nook  on  the  boat  which  afforded  shelter  from 
the  spray  and  wind  above  deck,  we  must  make  an  effort 
to  get  into  it  by  fair  means  or  foul.  I  went  below  and 
found  one  of  the  officers,  who  promised  to  sneak  us  into 
his  own  berth  on  payment  of  a  certain  price.  As  he  said 
there  was  a  strict  rule  aboard  not  to  allow  any  passengers 
in  those  quarters,  I  made  at  least  one  berth  secure,  trust- 
Ing  to  find  a  chance  to  get  another  for  my  companion 
after  a  while,  or  if  not,  to  smuggle  him  down  in  order  to 
bunk  with  me.  However,  he  spoilt  that  little  game.  He 
came  a  few  minutes  afterwards  and  began  to  suspect  me, 
of  having  left  him  to  his  fate  above,  while  I  had  sought 
a  snug  shelter  below.  As  he  was  very  hard  of  hearing,  I 
did  not  dare  to  explain  at  length.  But  even  the  few  words 
of  explanation,  though  of  no  avail  to  dispel  his  suspicions, 
were  sufficient  to  bring  around  the  steward.  The  result 
was,  that  we  came  very  near  losing  our  shelter.  How- 
ever, on  payment  of  about  three  times  the  price  at  first 
demanded,  we  were  suffered  to  remain. 

As  the  morning  sun  rose  again  over  the  mountain 
plateau  of  India,  it  revealed  the  shady  sides  of  the  bold 
promontories  of  the  Malabar  coast  to  our  right.  The 
vessel  in  her  course  followed  the  coast  line  more  or  less 
closely. 

Sometimes  the  walls  of  an  old  Portuguese  fort  could 
172 


ON  AN  OX-CART. 


be  seen  looking  grimly  down  from  the  cliffs  into 
the  sea.  They  were  crumbling  to  pieces,  though  form- 
erly they  no  doubt  were  considered  impregnable.  A 
few  cannonballs  from  modern  cruisers,  at  several  miles 
distance,  would  soon  level  them  to  the  ground.  At 
some  places  our  vessel  came  to  a  halt  in  order  to  wait 
for  a  boat  full  of  native  passengers,  that  struggled 
through  the  surf  to  reach  its  sides.  In  the  afternoon 
our  steamer  gracefully  swung  around  a  battlemented 
headland  into  a  small  sized  harbor.  On  the  farther 
side  of  the  fort  a  native  town  straggled  along  the  curve 
of  the  bay  and  up  the  parched  hills  behind.  It  was 
lucky  that  we  had  taken  along  at  least  some  provisions 
from  Goa,  as  we  would  have  been  at  loss  where  to  pro- 
cure any  on  the  way.  I  tried  to  fight  off  seasickness  by 
writing  at  my  journal  most  of  the  time.  Near  us  sat  a 
trio  of  swarthy  Arab  merchants,  who  were  chatting 
together  all  day,  seemingly  in  the  best  of  spirits.  One 
of  them  was  very  anxious  to  buy  an  American  eagle  to 
use  as  an  ornament.  But  he  soon  drew  out  of  the  bar- 
gain, when  I  told  him  that  its  value  was  sixty-three 
rupees.  So  the  day  passed  and  the  night  stole  away  in 
spite  of  our  discomfort,  until  we  arrived  at  the  Carnac 
bunder  in  Bombay  at  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
Carnac  bunder  is  a  long  distance  from  the  business 
part  of  Bombay.  All  was  yet  dark  and  the  long  bunder 
was  lighted  only  by  a  few  dim  lamps.  When  we  came  to 
the  entrance  some  carriages  were  waiting,  but  as  we  were 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

not  in  a  hurry,  they  were  gone  before  we  thought  of  hiring 
one  of  them.  However,  after  we  had  walked  through 
some  dark  streets  for  a  while,  the  jingling  bells  of  an 
oxcart  sounded  through  the  twilight  and  we  hired  it  to 
ride  up  town.  These  carts  are  rude  boxes  on  two  wheels, 
drawn  by  oxen  and  covered  with  muslin,  which  is 
stretched  over  semicircular  hoops  arching  over  the  box. 
A  rough  seat  is  arranged  for  the  passengers  under  this 
cover.  The  driver  sits  on  the  wagon  tongue  outside, 
urging  on  his  patient  beasts  by  a  cord  fastened  to  their 
necks  or  horns.  The  natives  make  much  use  of  this 
kind  of  conveyance.  In  a  roundabout  way  we  found 
our  way  jingling  through  the  quiet  dusk  of  the  morning 
to  the  English  Hotel.  Although  it  took  over  an  hour, 
we  were  too  early  for  the  porter  of  the  hotel,  who  ad- 
mitted us  only  after  much  hammering  at  the  door. 

The  tailors  at  the  Grand  Hotel  had  our  suits  ready 
according  to  agreement.  They  were  well  made,  though 
they  cost  only  32  rupees  ($10.00).  Of  course  they 
were  not  very  clerical,  as  they  were  of  a  gray  color 
and  of  sackcoat  style.  But  I  had  learnt  to  disregard 
these  mere  conventionalities  and  looked  rather  for  con- 
venience and  service.  On  the  way  to  Ballard  bunder, 
we  passed  through  the  Crawford  market,  the  largest 
I  met  anywhere  for  produce  of  all  kinds.  Before  being 
allowed  to  embark,  all  the  passengers  had  to  undergo  a 
health  examination,  which,  exceptionally,  was  not  a 
mere  formality,  such  as  we  are  accustomed  to  at  quar- 
174 


ADIEU  TO  INDIA. 


antine  points.  The  assembly  on  the  tug,  that  was  to 
bring  us  out  to  the  Carthage,  gave  us  a  taste  of  the  un- 
congenial society  with  whom  we  would  have  to  spend 
our  time  during  the  voyage.  The  snobbish  aristocrats 
would  certainly  not  be  the  most  agreeable  traveling  com- 
panions. At  two  o'clock  all  were  aboard,  the  anchor 
was  weighed  and  the  great  steamer  made  a  wide  sweep 
around  the  sunny  roofs  and  tall  towers  of  Bombay  out 
into  the  vast  blue  deep. 

Just  a  few  general  remarks  about  India,  before  it 
is  altogether  out  of  sight.  Its  history  dates  back  to 
the  most  remote  ages.  Long  before  the  countries  of 
Europe  were  even  inhabited ,  the  country  of  the  Hindoos 
was  far  advanced  in  civilization.  The  vestiges  of 
Hindoo  advancement  in  the  sciences,  in  architecture, 
in  systematic  goverment  date  back  to  remote  periods. 
India  is  a  vast  peninsula,  1,900  miles  long  and  1,700 
miles  wide,  teeming  with  population.  The  adherents 
of  the  old  Hindoo  religion  are  by  far  the  most  numerous, 
though  there  are  some  Buddhists,  especially  in  Burmah, 
and  some  fifty  millions  of  Mohammedans.  The  abor- 
igines were  probably  of  the  Mongolian  family,  but 
these  were  later  on  absorbed  by  the  Aryan  races  that 
spread  out  eastward  from  the  plains  of  Babylon  and  the 
mountains  of  Persia.  The  Portuguese  were  the  first 
Europeans  that  invaded  the  country.  They  have  now 
yielded  supremacy  to  the  English.  Until  1857  the  East 
India  company  controlled  the  goverment  of  such  pro- 
175 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

vinces,  as  they  had  been  able  to  annex  ;  since  then,  how- 
ever, England  has  taken  more  direct  charge.  In  many 
provinces  the  native  princes  or  rajahs  have  been  left  in 
nominal  power  and  England  does  not  interfere  very 
much  in  native  customs  or  religions.  Each  native  ruler 
is  under  tutelage  of  an  Englishman,  who  is  called  a 
Resident.  The  European  contingent  of  the  army 
numbers  about  75,000,  the  native  portion  215,000, 
officered,  of  course,  by  the  English.  Railroads  intersect 
India  in  all  directions  and  they  are  mostly  under  govern- 
ment management  or  generously  subsidized. 

PRACTICAL  HINTS.  When  traveling  in  the  Orient  an  English 
helmet,  which  is  made  of  white  duck  and  a  thick  lining  of  crok, 
will  be  found  very  satisfactory  for  outdoor  wear.  The  hot  rays 
of  the  sun  are  dangerous  to  most  white  men,  unless  their  effects 
are  guarded  against  by  some  light  and  thick  covering  for  the  head. 
These  helmets  are  so  shaped,  that  the  most  sensitive  parts  are 
protected  and  yet  kept  cool  by  the  circulating  air.  Those  that 
buy  mementoes  and  curios,  even  only  at  the  most  interesting  points 
of  their  journey,  will  soon  find  their  baggage  getting  very  cumber- 
some. It  becomes  necessary  to  ship  a  portion  of  their  baggage 
ahead  of  them.  The  best  place  to  send  them  to  is  England, 
especially  for  Americans,  as  they  will  be  able  to  repack  before 
leaving  for  America.  The  facilities  for  shipment  to  London  are 
numerous  in  all  the  ports,  but  it  is  advisable  to  have  them  insured, 
as  they  are  liable  to  be  lost  or  stolen  on  the  long  route  homeward. 


I76 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ON  THE  ARABIAN  SEA  AND  INDIAN  OCEAN  —  ADEN 
AND  BAB  EL  MANDEB  —  THE  RED  SEA  —  GAY 
LIFE  ABOARD  SHIP  —  AN  UNFROCKED  CLERIC. 

The  Carthage  was  crowded  with  people  in  both 
first  and  second  cabin.  We  had  our  berths  in  the  first 
cabin  and  we  found  our  surmisings  as  to  the  quality  of 
the  company  fully  verified.  The  majority  were  people, 
who  in  their  affluence  think  nothing  more  important 
in  life  than  to  observe  any  amount  of  formality  in  daily 
intercourse.  The  meals  are  of  course  first  class  in 
every  respect.  But  the  formality  of  it  all  spoils  the 
enjoyment.  Until  we  got  to  Aden,  meals  were  about 
as  cheerful  a  proceeding  as  a  first  class  funeral.  This 
was  especially  true  of  dinner,  for  which  these  people 
make  great  efforts  to  show  off  their  manners  and  their 
dress.  What  prodigiously  solemn  faces  they  did  carry 
down  to  the  dining  room,  together  with  their  silks, 
embroidery,  jewels  and  acres  of  white  shirt  fronts.  I 
hardly  blame  them  for  their  solemn  faces:  most  of  the 
participants  in  this  tragedic  farce  showed,  by  indubitable 
signs,  that  they  consider  it  all  absurd  and  a  torture, 
but  dare  not  refuse  a  rdle  in  it  for  fear  of  being  ostracised. 
Otherwise  we  had  a  very  quiet  and  pleasant  voyage. 
No  storm  or  high  wind  disturbed  the  tranquility  of  the 
177 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

blue  waters.  Most  of  the  time  I  sat  under  the  canvas 
of  the  rear  deck,  busy  writing  at  my  journal.  During 
the  five  days,  which  were  consumed  in  the  voyage  from 
Bombay  to  Aden,  the  passengers  lounged  about  deck 
morosely  whiling  away  the  time.  On  April  the  5th  we 
were  nearing  Aden.  At  noon  the  rugged  cliffs  and 
bare  mountain  islands  of  the  Arabian  peninsula  dimly 
hove  in  sight  toward  the  west.  But  we  sailed  past 
these  mountains,  which  proved  to  be  only  some  islands. 
Rounding  them,  Aden  was  discovered  lying  at  the  foot 
of  the  distant  granite  hills  in  the  bright  sunshine.  No  land- 
ing was  allowed  on  account  of  the  plague.  Here  we  were 
to  be  transshipped  to  the  O.  and  O.  steamship  Britannia, 
which  was  due  here  from  Australia  and  on  which  we  were 
to  make  our  passage  up  the  Red  sea  through  the  Suez 
canal  to  Brindisi.  Aden  is  not  a  large  town:  the  prin- 
cipal buildings  visible  were  the  long-stretched  barracks 
for  the  English  soldiers.  They  were  built  on  the  slope 
of  the  rugged  mountain,  flanked  by  clusters  of  houses 
on  each  side. 

The  Britannia  was  already  anchored  in  the  shallow 
water  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  our  boat  awaiting  our 
arrival.  The  quarantine  flag  fluttered  from  its  mast- 
head, indicating,  that  she  also  would  not  allow  passengers 
to  land  at  Aden.  The  Carthage  kept  manoeuvering 
about  for  anchorage,  plowing  up  the  sand  of  the  shallow 
ocean-bed.  The  passengers  of  both  boats  were  crowd- 
ing the  railings,  anxious  to  see  the  proceedings.  It  was 
178 


"I  DIVE,  OHA!" 

an  interesting  scene,  lit  up  by  the  bright  afternoon  sun: 
the  blue  expanse  of  the  Indian  ocean  stretching  away  to 
the  south;  the  sandy  shores  of  Abyssinia,  forming  a 
dim  yellow  streak  down  the  southwest;  a  collection  of 
desert  island  cliffs  and  the  red  promontories  of  Arabia 
hemming  in  the  view  to  the  east  and  north.  A  northerly 
breeze  chopped  the  glittering  waters  into  whitecaps, 
that  caused  the  smaller  boats,  launches  and  lighters  to 
rock  on  the  unruly  brine. 

Four  or  five  boats,  filled  with  curly-haired  negroes, 
were  hovering  around  our  vessel,  bobbing  up  and  down 
on  the  choppy  sea.  Nimbly  their  dark  inmates  paddled 
around  the  high  hulk  of  the  steamer,  with  upturned 
faces  on  sharp  lookout  for  the  dropping  coins.  While 
paddling,  they  filled  the  air  with  their  shouts  for  bakshish 
and  "I  dive,  oha  "  sung  in  chorus  and  in  rythmic 
measure.  If  any  of  the  amused  passengers  dropped  a 
coin  into  the  sea,  their  froglike  chorus  suddenly  ceased 
and  out  of  the  boat  they  jumped  into  the  waves  after  the 
slowly  sinking  coins.  Beneath  the  clear  surface  very 
often  there  ensued  a  scramble  for  the  money  before  it 
was  out  of  sight.  The  successful  one  would  quickly 
emerge,  followed  by  the  rest.  Triumphantly  he  held 
the  captured  coin  over  the  water,  while  swimming  along 
and  shaking  the  brine  from  his  wooly  head.  And  again 
they  intoned  their  chorus"!  dive,  oha,"  showing  the 
white  of  their  eyes  and  shining  rows  of  teeth. 

All  the  passengers  of  the  Carthage  were  transferred 
179 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

to  the  Britannia  and  some  of  the  Britannia's  were  taken 
aboard  the  Carthage,  for  she  was  to  return  to  Bombay 
immediately.  This  consumed  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
afternoon.  Besides  the  bakshish-divers,  there  were  a 
number  of  other  natives  in  boats,  who  were  trying  to 
sell  curios  to  the  passengers  while  transshipping.  I 
bought  a  pair  of  springbock  antlers  for  a  shilling.  We 
obtained  berths  in  the  same  room  with  Mr.  King,  who 
had  been  our  fellow  passenger  on  the  Gaelic  from  San 
Francisco.  In  the  evening  the  Britannia,  with  its  teem- 
ing load  of  passengers,  rounded  the  Arabian  prom- 
ontories and  entered  the  dangerous  passes  of  Babel 
Mandeb,  the  gates  of  the  Red  Sea.  Next  morning  we 
were  still  in  the  narrow  straits  between  Arabia  and 
Africa,  heading  northward.  On  both  sides  rugged  and 
barren  mountains  reared  their  cragged  sides  from  the 
blue  waters.  Peculiar  white  streaks  ran  down  the  moun- 
tainsides on  the  left  of  us.  They  looked  much  like  snow, 
but  they  are  the  salt  deposits  of  the  vapours,  that  are 
carried  up  from  the  sea  by  the  winds.  In  between  the 
mountains,  stretches  of  sandy  plains  gleamed  in  the  sun- 
shine on  both  sides  of  the  straits. 

Among  the  second-class  passengers  a  shaggy,  long- 
haired individual  made  himself  conspicuous  by  loud 
talking  and  disputing,  stalking  up  and  down  the  hur- 
ricane deck,  reading  from  a  prayerbook  or  .from  a  Bible. 
He  was  reported  to  be  an  Episcopalian  minister,  who 
had  been  divorced  from  his  wife  and  had  been  excom- 
180 


GAY  AUSTRALIANS. 


municated  by  the  church  authorities  in  Australia  for 
insubordination  and  heresy.  I  doubt  whether  all  the 
accusations  brought  against  him  were  true,  but  he  soon 
became  the  laughing  stock  of  the  vessel.  He  had  a 
wonderful  flow  of  language  and  seemed  to  be  well 
informed  on  many  subjects.  However,  I  thought  him 
somewhat  deranged  in  mind  and  not  fit  for  any  argument 
on  religion  or  any  other  subject. 

Intercourse  among  the  passengers  was  put  on  a  much 
better  footing  since  the  more  democratic  Australians 
formed  such  a  considerable  part  of  the  ship's  company. 
The  snobbish  passengers  of  the  Carthage  were  now  in 
the  minority  and  their  reserve  and  formality  at  a  dis- 
count. One  could  go  down  to  meals  with  some  sort  of  en- 
joyment. Still,  even  with  this  improvement,  the  sociability 
or  good-feeling  among  the  passengers  was  far  from 
comparing  favorably  with  that,  which  we  all  enjoyed  so 
much  on  board  the  Gaelic  from  San  Francisco  to  Hong 
Kong.  Some  of  the  Australians  in  first  cabin  had  ar- 
ranged a  fancy  dress  ball  for  Saturday  night.  Accordingly 
the  promenade  deck  was  gayly  illuminated  and  half  of  the 
first-class  cabin  passengers  appeared  in  all  sorts  of  odd 
costumes,  some  of  them  very  rich  and  costly.  There 
was  dancing,  and  music,  and  much  merrymaking.  One 
of  the  young  wags  had  fixed  himself  up  in  imitation  of 
of  Clarke,  the  eccentric  Episcopalian  minister  before 
mentioned.  He  strutted  about  with  a  long  coat  and  a 
shaggy  wig  of  curly  hair  and  a  placard  attached  to  his 

181 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

back  "  Not  wanted  on  voyage, "  such  as  is  usually  put 
on  that  part  of  one's  baggage,  which  is  not  wanted  in  the 
cabin  and  therefore  stowed  away  in  the  freightroom. 
I  thought  they  were  a  little  hard  on  the  minister.  They 
certainly  had  a  good  time  on  that  Saturday  night,  danc- 
ing and  singing,  laughing  and  joking,  as  the  great  steamer 
plowed  its  way  undisturbed  over  the  dark  waters  of  the 
Red  Sea. 

Frequently  on  the  passage  up  the  historic  sea  the 
shores  of  Africa  and  Arabia  came  into  distant  view. 
Occasionally  we  encountered  a  steamer  or  a  sailboat.  As 
the  eye  sweeps  over  the  waters  of  this  huge  inland  sea  a 
reddish  tint  seems  to  hover  over  the  deep  blue.  This 
peculiarity  probably  accounts  for  the  name  of  the  Red 
Sea.  It  may  be  that  this  impression  is  caused  by  the 
ruddy  color  of  the  shores  and  of  the  islands,  which  rise 
out  of  the  water.  The  voyage  consumed  nearly  four 
days.  The  rocky  coasts  began  to  narrow  toward  each 
other  and  we  hove  in  sight  of  Suez  in  the  forenoon. 
Until  now  we  were  as  yet  uncertain  whether  we  would  be 
allowed  to  land  at  any  other  place  except  Brindisi  with- 
out going  through  a  quarantine.  This  morning,  however, 
news  came  from  the  officers,  that  passengers  could  land 
at  Suez  without  undergoing  quarantine. 

We  decided  at  once  to  land  at  Suez  and  make  our 
way  to  Cairo  and  Palestine  as  best  we  might.  The 
Britannia  had  anchored  at  about  a  mile  from  the  entrance 
to  the  great  canal  and  the  straggling  houses  and  the 

182 


Ax  SUEZ. 

government  buildings  were  lying  pleasantly  in  the  sun- 
shine before  us.  All  the  passengers  were  assembled  in 
the  dining  room  and  had  to  pass  in  review  before  the 
Egyptian  doctors.  There  was  no  hitch  in  the  procession 
as  there  had  been  none  in  the  score  of  other  like  inspec- 
tions that  we  had  till  now  undergone  on  our  journey. 


'83 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

SUEZ  —  STREET  -  LIFE  —  BAKSHISH  -  HUNTERS  —  ALONG 
THE  CANAL  —  ISMAILIA  —  WELL  MET  —  CAIRO  AT 
NIGHT. 

Then  those  that  wanted  to  stop  off  at  Suez  descended 
to  the  clumsy  boat,  that  was  to  take  them  and  their  bag- 
gage to  the  wharf.  A  tattered  sail  was  raised  and  the 
swarthy  boatmen  plied  their  oars.  There  were  only  a 
dozen  or  so  of  passengers  that  had  left  the  Britannia  and 
were  now  waving  adieu  to  their  acquaintances,  that 
crowded  the  bulwarks. 

Having  arrived  on  shore  we  were  detained  for  about 
two  hours  by  quarantine  formalities,  which  I  thought 
were  extremely  nonsensical.  Our  soiled  clothes  were 
gathered  into  bags  and  placed  into  a  disinfecting  oven, 
which  ceremony  cost  us  two  shillings  a  person.  Then 
we  were  lazily  towed  in  our  clumsy  boat  some  miles 
farther  along  the  shallow  shores,  at  an  expense  of  a  few 
more  shillings.  Egyptian  officials  minutely  inquired 
into  our  names,  business,  destination,  and  the  hotel  at 
which  we  intended  to  stop.  I  for  one,  answered  at 
random  to  the  foolish  inquisition  and  by  the  time  these 
ignorant  Egyptians  had  scrawled  our  answers  on  their 
records,  misunderstanding  nearly  everything  that  we 
said,  they  must  have  been  much  less  enlightened  about 
184 


HUNGRY  PORTERS, 


ourselves  and  fortunes  than  they  were  before  they 
began.  Of  course  the  main  object  of  all  these  vexations 
was  always  bakshish.  Fees  were  to  be  paid  for  every- 
thing and  to  everybody  connected  with  this  so-called 
quarantine  establishment  of  the  Khedive.  Cook's  agency 
and  the  carriers  in  their  employ,  showed  an  exasperat- 
ing zeal  in  imitating  their  example.  Most  of  the  pas- 
sengers made  violent  protests  against  some  of  these 
demands.  A  horde  of  hungry  porters  fell  over  our  bag- 
gage in  order  to  carry  it  to  the  train,  which  was  ready  to 
start  for  Ismailia  and  Cairo  in  a  few  hours.  In  the 
meanwhile  we  fell  victims  to  a  dragoman,  who  offered  to 
show  us  the  native  settlement  of  Suez,  which  was  hidden 
behind  the  government  buildings. 

The  streets  presented  a  lively  Oriental  scene,  though 
on  a  small  scale:  shops  full  of  trumpery  for  the  native 
purchasers,  open  sheds  for  those  that  wanted  to  have 
a  smoke  of  tobacco  or  opium,  peddlers  of  sweetened 
orange  water,  bawling  out  at  the  top  of  their  voice  and 
letting  cupfuls  of  it  out  of  one  leg  of  a  pigskin,  the  tur- 
baned  men  and  the  muffled  women  in  their  wide  breeches, 
the  ass-drivers  with  their  dogged  animals,  urging  them 
along  by  prodding  and  twisting  their  tails.  In  a  crum- 
bling mosque  there  were  a  few  Mohammedans,  squatting 
on  their  knees  and  making  many  bows  and  gestures 
toward  the  Mihrab  and  Mecca.  At  the  entrance  of  the 
mosque  were  several  jets  of  running  water,  at  which  the 
devout  Mohammedans  are  supposed  to  make  their 
185 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

ablutions  before  starting  their  devotions:  a  very  sen- 
sible prescription  of  their  prophet  Mohomet,  as  most  of 
these  people  would  probably  never  wash  themselves 
otherwise.  Finally  the  dragoman  dragged  us  into  an 
Italian  restaurant  for  dinner.  He  was  not  slow  to  order 
a  good  one  for  himself  and  did  the  greater  share  of  the 
eating.  Dogs  and  cats  gathered  around  us,  while  we  sat 
at  our  meals,  and  they  were  not  less  expectant  of  good 
fare  than  the  dragoman.  At  his  advice  we  hired  a  car- 
riage to  see  the  gardens  outside  of  town;  but  it  was 
only  a  makeshift  of  the  dragoman,  to  induce  us  to  spend 
some  money  in  a  wine  and  ale-shop  surrounded  by  a  few 
trees.  The  whole  country  around  Suez  is  a  sandy  desert 
and  only  irrigation  will  enable  any  vegetation  to  spring 
or  live.  In  the  distance  behind  the  garden  the  great 
locks  of  the  canal  were  visible.  On  the  way  back  an 
Egyptian  funeral  passed  us:  four  men  were  carrying 
the  corpse  on  a  bier  to  a  cemetery  on  the  outskirts  of 
town.  The  principal  wife  and  the  four  concubines  of  the 
deceased  followed  in  silence  behind  the  bier.  They  were 
entirely  covered  by  black  mantles  and  had  blue  ribbons 
tied  around  the  head.  Ahead  of  the  corpse  a  crowd  of 
shouting,  wailing,  cymbaling  and  tomtoming  men  moved 
along,  while  a  bevy  of  wailing  women  followed  in  the 
rear  of  the  wives  of  the  defunct. 

After  a  stay  of  two  hours,  we  boarded  the  train  and 
we  were  jogged  along  over  the  sandwaste  parallel  to 
the  Suez  canal,  to  Ismailia.  Soon  we  overtook  the 

1 86 


ALONG  THE  CANAL. 


Britannia,  which  was  slowly  crawling  up  the  canal  like 
a  huge  black  monster  of  the  desert.  No  ship  is  allowed 
to  go  faster  than  three  or  four  miles  an  hour  and  there 
are  many  delays  at  the  slips  in  waiting  for  ships  coming 
in  the  opposite  direction.  Very  often,  also,  vessels  are 
detained  by  running  foul  of  sandbanks  when  making  a 
short  turn.  From  the  train  they  look  like  hugh  phantoms, 
wafted  over  the  sands,  for  one  seldom  gets  a  glimpse  of 
the  canal  itself.  The  passengers  of  the  Britannia  were 
on  the  watch  for  us  and  they  waved  us  a  greeting 
over  the  sand  dunes.  With  the  exception  of  Ismailia, 
which  is  a  railroad  junction,  the  whole  stretch  between 
Suez  and  Port  Said  is  a  dreary  sand  waste  with  an  occa- 
sional lagoon  of  shallow  water. 

At  Ismailia  we  had  to  change  cars  for  Cairo:  not  an 
agreeable  proceeding,  when  one  hundred  greedy  car- 
riers fall  over  yourself  and  baggage,  almost  tearing  it  and 
themselves  to  pieces  in  the  eager  effort  to  earn  the  few 
pennies  for  carrying  it.  Some  more  wretched  cars,  more 
sandy  plains,  more  unaccountable  delays  and  reit- 
erated inspection  of  your  railroad  tickets  by  Egyptian 
trainmen,  who  wear  a  miniature  railroad  train  and  a 
halfmoon  on  their  coat  lapels.  But  also  these  things 
come  to  an  end,  even  in  Oriental  countries,  and  you 
arrive  at  your  destination  in  spite  of  delays  and  vexations. 
It  was  night,  however,  before  we  reached  Cairo.  We 
were  surprised  to  hear  no  noise  in  the  fine  station  and 
to  find  no  carriers  swooping  down  upon  us.  But  our 
187 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

surprise  was  premature:  as  soon  as  we  set  our  foot  on 
the  street,  they  came  down  upon  us  and  our  hand-bags 
like  a  horde  of  savages.  For  a  time  our  satchels  wan- 
dered from  hand  to  hand,  for  each  one  of  the  runners, 
cabmen  and  porters  tried  to  secure  hold  of  our  grips,  in 
order  to  enforce  his  importunate  solicitations  by  actual 
possession.  But  Korf's  Bayrischer  Hof  carried  the  day 
with  us:  we  could  expect  to  find  something  to  quench 
the  thirst  as  well  as  to  satisfy  the  appetite  there;  at 
least  so  the  name  led  us  to  surmise.  There  surely 
Gambrinus  would  smile  on  the  dusty  and  parched  trav- 
elers, who  had  in  vain  sought  his  nut-brown  gifts  since 
they  had  left  Manila  in  the  antipodes. 

With  a  triumphant  hurrah  the  cabman  and  a  drago- 
man captured  our  baggage  from  a  previous  robber, 
flung  it  into  the  carriage  and  shoved  us  onto  the  seats. 
Then,  shouting  and  cracking  the  whip,  they  set  the 
horses  a  galloping  over  the  great  square  past  the  electric 
lights  and  plunged  into  some  dark  streets,  trying  to 
head  off  one  or  two  other  cabs  that  had  gotten  the  start 
of  them.  Luckily  we  were  not  dashed  to  pieces,  but 
emerged  again  into  well  lighted  and  busy  thoroughfares 
and  suddenly  halted  in  front  of  Korf's  hotel.  Sure 
enough,  there  out  of  the  doors  comes  an  individual  with 
rotund  form  and  face,  the  very  picture  of  smiling  King 
Gambrinus  or  his  brother,  addressing  us  in  German  and 
holding  out  both  his  hands  in  order  to  welcome  us.  I 
don't  know  which  seemed  to  please  him  more:  our 
1 88 


SCHOOL  IX  CAIRO 


ESCAPED! 

being  able  to  talk  with  him  in  German  or  our  being 
Americans.  Probably  in  the  estimation  of  this  jovial 
host,  these  two  qualities  go  far  to  make  up  the  ideal 
guests-.  Let  no  one  be  afraid  to  suspect  us  of  not  order- 
ing immediately  some  of  the  delicate  lunch  and  the  other 
delicious  things  served  there.  The  jolly  hotel-keeper 
sat  with  us  and  joined  us,  as  we  rewarded  ourselves  with 
the  foaming  Hofbrau  for  escaping  a  parched  hemisphere, 
English  snobs,  Khedivial  customs  and  quarantines, 
wolfish  carriers  and  breakdown  trains. 

The  funny  dragoman,  who  in  his  Oriental  costume, 
looked  like  a  near  relative  of  the  mummies,  had  followed 
us  from  the  station  and  penetrated  to  the  room,  which 
our  blooming  host  had  shown  us.  I  told  him  we  had 
devoured,  hanged,  drowned  and  precipitated  into  the 
mountain  abysses  all  the  dragomen  we  had  met  in  the 
Orient,  and  cautioned  him  to  let  us  alone,  if  he  did  not 
wish  to  meet  a  similar  fate.  But  he  merely  answered  by 
sepulchral  grin  and  kept  on  descanting  on  the  wonder- 
ful sights  he  would  show  us  at  half  rates.  His  persistance 
won  the  day  and  we  engaged  him  for  the  next  morning. 
He  offered  to  show  us  around  for  an  hour  or  two  before 
retiring  for  the  night.  Cairo  is  a  city  of  more  cos- 
mopolitan character  than  perhaps  any  on  earth,  Con- 
stantinople not  excepted.  In  the  gay  season,  which 
was  just  coming  to  an  end,  people  from  all  nations  flock 
to  Cairo,  bent  either  on  business  or  pleasure,  especially 
pleasure.  A  good  deal  of  it,  I  suspect,  is  of  the  for- 
189 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

bidden  kind.  I  asked  the  dragoman  to  show  me  the 
nearest  Catholic  church,  as  I  wanted  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  the  morning.  But  he  was  in  no  hurry  and  pro- 
bably took  my  request  for  a  joke;  with  Cairo  dragomen 
churches  do  not  figure  in  the  list  of  attractions.  There 
is  no  want  of  solicitation  to  forbidden  pleasures.  Early 
next  morning  I  went  in  search  of  the  church,  which  had 
been  pointed  out  to  us  from  afar  last  night.  I  did  not 
find  it  readily,  as  it  is  almost  hidden  behind  high  houses 
at  the  end  of  a  narrow  lane.  Its  walls  were  merely  a 
continuation  of  the  surrounding  tenement  houses.  The 
priest  in  charge  received  me  very  kindly  and  readily  con- 
sented to  my  saying  mass. 


190 


CHAPTER  XX. 

SKIRMISHING  FOR  A  PASSPORT — Ax  THE  PYRAMIDS  — 
POSING  AS  THE  RENOWNED  HAKIM  ALEMAN  —  PEER- 
ING INTO  ANCIENT  TOMBS. 

It  had  been  my  ambition  to  celebrate  Holy  Week  in 
Jerusalem  and  accordingly  I  was  anxious  to  procure 
my  passport  as  soon  as  possible.  We  soon  found,  that 
if  we  trusted  any  part  of  the  management  of  this  busi- 
ness to  an  agency,  we  would  certainly  be  disappointed. 
I  fully  made  up  my  mind  to  be  there  and  attempt 
the  entrance  into  Palestine  at  all  hazards,  whether  I 
could  get  a  passport  or  not.  Cook's  people  told  me, 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  get  a  passport  within 
less  than  ten  days  and  that  it  would  be  equally  impos- 
sible to  enter  Palestine  without  it.  Their  agent  in  Chica- 
go had  failed  to  attend  to  this  passport  as  agreed,  and 
here  in  Cairo  they  made  it  their  business  to  detain  us 
contrary  to  our  wishes.  The  American  consul  was  more 
accommodating:  on  the  next  day  he  made  out  my 
American  passport  on  presenting  evidence  that  we  were 
American  citizens.  But  he  told  me  that  it  would  be 
hard  to  get  the  vise  or  signature  of  the  Turkish  consul 
on  account  of  the  Ramadan  feast. 

The  people  were  out  in  gala  style,  music  and  pro- 
cessions to  the  graves  of  their  dead  were  now  the  order 
191 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

of  the  day.  No  Turkish  official  would  take  the  trouble 
to  sign  a  passport  for  a  giaour  during  the  holidays.  I 
made  up  my  mind  to  defy  the  Sultan  and  his  horde  of 
lazy,  bakshish-hunting  officials;  if  I  could  not  get  his 
laggard,  feasting  representative  in  Cairo  to  attach  his 
barbaric  signature  to  my  American  passport,  I  would 
invade  his  territory  without  it. 

More  at  ease,  we  hired  a  driver  to  bring  us  out  to  the 
pyramids,  about  four  miles  from  the  city.  The  Orient- 
als are  all  merciless  drivers,  but  the  hope  of  bakshish 
was  an  extra  incentive  to  our  driver  for  urging  on  his 
horses.  We  quickly  passed  through  the  residence  por- 
tion of  Cairo,  over  the  bridge  across  the  Nile.  The 
river  was  studded  with  barques  and  darksailed  dahabiehs, 
that  were  moored  in  clusters  along  the  bridge  piers  and 
the  river  banks,  or  were  slowly  moving  on  the  bosom  of 
the  majestic  river.  Beyond  the  river  our  carriage 
skimmed  along  the  well-kept  pike  beneath  the  shade  of 
magnificent  acacias  and  afterwards  between  the  green 
wheat  fields,  where  three  crops  are  reaped  every  year. 

We  were  ascending  the  gentle  slopes,  to  the  sand-plateau 
of  the  desert.  At  its  edge  the  great  pyramids  reared 
their  triangular  sides  to  the  sky.  Behind  us,  as  we 
gradually  climbed  higher,  lay  the  magnificently  curving 
river,  and  the  great  city,  studded  with  palaces  and  many 
a  minaretted  mosque.  Behind  it  all,  across  the  river 
the  rocky  heights,  which  so  many  centuries  ago  furnished 
the  materials  for  the  pyramids,  hemmed  in  the  view. 

192 


IN  THE  TOILS  OF  A  SYNDICATE. 

Before  reaching  the  vicinity  of  the  pyramids,  the  pictur- 
esque ruins  of  a  Bedouin  village  dotted  the  greensward. 
The  proud  sons  of  the  desert  could  be  seen  stalking  in 
their  white  burnouses  under  the  crumbling  walls,  which 
they  still  used  as  abodes. 

In  the  distance  before  us  a  group  of  about  thirty  per- 
sons were  just  scrambling  down  the  sides  of  the  pyramid 
of  Cheops.  They  looked  no  larger  than  rabbits  leap- 
ing from  rock  to  rock.  As  most  of  them  were  dressed 
in  white,  making  a  lively  contrast  with  the  dark  gray 
rocks,  we  thought  they  were  mostly  ladies,  but  soon 
found  out  that  the  greater  number  of  them  were  guides 
in  their  white  burnouses.  They  were  making  a  great 
ado  about  their  work  of  conducting  the  tourists  safely 
down  the  steep  sides  of  the  pyramid. 

We  were  accordingly  not  a  little  disgusted  to  find, 
that  these  ancient  monuments  are  now  in  the  hands  of 
speculators,  who  have  erected  a  ticket  office  near  by  and 
force  the  tourists  to  engage  three  guides  apiece,  who  are 
to  bring  them  safely  up  to  the  summit  and  through  the 
interior.  They  pretend  that  great  danger  is  connected 
with  the  ascent  to  the  top  and  that  thievish  outsiders 
are  apt  to  take  advantage  of  the  traveler,  when  once 
he  is  on  top.  I  could  not  for  the  life  of  me  see  any  great 
danger  or  difficulty  in  climbing  up  the  sloping  sides, 
since  the  huge  blocks  of  stone  form  a  sort  of  stairs.  As 
for  the  advantage,  that  the  other  natives  will  take  of  the 
tourists,  what  is  the  difference  to  him,  whether  he  is  rob- 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

bed  by  a  money-grabbing  syndicate  or  by  the  bakshish 
loving  Arab?  I  prefer  the  latter  mode.  As  we  bought 
tickets  a  horde  of  the  Arabs  came  rushing  from  the  base 
of  the  pyramid,  each  claiming  us  as  his  prize.  The 
uniformed  ticket  vender,  without  consulting  us,  selected 
six  of  them,  three  for  each  of  us  to  guide  us  up  the 
pyramid.  I  protested  and  said,  that  we  needed  no 
accompaniment.  But  he  would  not  even  compromise 
for  any  less  number.  There  must  be  three,  he  said: 
one  at  each  hand  to  pull  up  and  one  behind  to  shove. 
How  foolish  it  all  seemed:  a  pair  of  sound  limbs  and 
good  lungs  would  bring  any  one  to  the  top  without  out- 
side help. 

As  we  could  not  get  rid  of  our  six  Arabs,  a  grim  humor 
took  possession  of  me  and  I  resolved,  if  possible,  to  get 
our  money's  worth  of  fun  out  of  the  superfluous  retinue. 
They  began  in  a  broken  jargon  of  English  and  French  to 
magnify  the  dangers  of  the  ascent.  Ridicule  only  made 
them  more  earnest  in  their  exaggerations.  Two  of  them 
wanted  to  seize  me  by  the  hand,  when  we  came  to  the 
rough  terraces  of  the  crumbling  rock,  while  the  third  one 
pretended  to  show  the  way,  as  if  the  worn  trails  of  the 
tourists  were  not  in  full  sight.  But  refusing  their  help,  I 
had  them  winded  before  we  were  half  way  up  and  they 
urged  us  to  take  a  rest  in  a  recess  of  the  broken  side. 
They  were  not  in  a  hurry  to  resume  the  ascent.  One 
of  them  tried  to  assure  me,  that  he  was  a  doctor,  espe- 
cially appointed  by  the  government  in  case  of  accident 

194 


GRIM  HUMOR. 


But  he  said  no  more  when  I  told  him,  that  I,  on  my  part 
was  a  renowned  Hakim  Allemand  and  it  would  not  much 
matter  if  he  broke  every  bone  in  his  body,  while  I  was 
around.  He  had  hauled  out  a  small  bag  and  said  it  con- 
tained, besides  the  medicine,  old  coins  dug  from  the 
secret  chambers  under  the  pyramid.  They  were  very 
rare  and  of  great  value:  an  Englishman  had  given  him 
$25.00  for  the  smallest  of  them.  I  offered  him  a  piastre 
(five  cents)  and  after  some  indignant  protestations,  got 
one  and  he  was  anxious  to  sell  the  whole  bag  of  them  for 
a  few  additional  piastres. 

But  what  an  astounding  work  of  the  pigmy  man  these 
pyramids  are:  we  must  have  looked  like  ants  crawling 
over  a  mountain.  Huge  blocks  of  stone,  piled  one  upon 
the  other,  in  ever  diminishing  squares,  from  one  of  four 
hundred  feet,  to  one  of  ten  feet  across  at  a  height  of  450 
feet  from  the  present  level  of  the  sands!  By  sheer  weight 
of  the  skillfully  placed  rocks  they  have  held  together  for 
over  three  thousand  years,  so  that  even  now  the  pyramid 
seems  a  solid  mountain  of  rock.  Originally  the  surfaces 
were  covered  with  polished  granite,  which  formed  a 
smooth  incline  from  the  bottom  to  the  top.  This  out- 
ward covering  has,  however,  entirely  disappeared,  having 
been  used  for  other  buildings  in  Cairo  or  having  slid 
down  to  the  bottom  as  de'bris.  The  tiers  of  rocks  are 
now  exposed  and  form  irregular  steps  from  three  to  six 
feet  high. 

As  we  reached  the  dizzy  heights  of  the  last  layer  of 
195 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

rocks  the  people  at  the  base  looked  like  dwarfs  creeping 
around  on  the  sands.  The  vast  undulating  plains  of  the 
Sahara  stretch  westward  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach, 
while  eastward  the  valley  of  the  Nile  sweeps  from  north 
to  south,  a  magnificent  pathway  for  the  vast  stream  as  it 
seeks  the  ocean.  To  the  south  the  equally  renowned 
pyramids  of  Memphis  can  be  distinctly  seen  on  clear 
days.  Our  eyes,  sweeping  past  sunny  Cairo  across  the 
Nile  valley,  met  the  rocky  bluffs  ten  miles  away,  shutting 
off  the  horizon.  How  could  the  great  blocks  of  stones, 
on  which  we  were  then  standing,  ever  have  been  brought 
across  the  valley  and  the  stream  without  modern  machin- 
ery? And  yet  they  were  small  in  comparison  with  those 
found  on  the  sphinx  and  in  some  of  the  excavated  temples 
at  the  foot  of  the  pyramids. 

At  a  short  distance  from  the  Cheops,  on  the  top  of 
which  we  stood,  three  other  pyramids  somewhat  smaller 
arose.  Between  them,  the  Sphinx  reared  its  battered 
face  out  of  the  sands.  From  our  place  of  vantage  the 
woman's  head  and  crouching  lion's  body  of  the  Sphinx, 
though  130  feet  long,  seemed  no  larger  than  some  mastiff 
lying  at  the  foot  of  the  pyramid.  What  tyrannical  power 
these  ancient  monarchs  must  have  wielded,  to  compel 
hundred  thousands  of  their  subjects  to  pile  up  such 
mountains  of  rocks  over  their  intended  resting-place ! 

We  had  some  more  fun  with  the  pretended  guides, 
while  resting  on  the  summit  and  climbing  down  the  sides 
of  the  pyramid.  But  they  took  it  all  in  good  part;  of 
196 


CHEOPS  AND  SPHINX. 


course  in  the  hope  of  so  much  the  greater  bakshish. 
These  white-robed  Bedouins,  that  conduct  large  parties, 
are  certainly  a  curious  sight  as  they  seemingly  creep  down 
the  rough  sides,  now  turning  this  way  and  that,  zigzag- 
ing  to  right  and  left,  stooping  for  a  leap  or  straightening 
out  to  assist  some  tourist.  They  conduct  the  parties 
along  a  worn-out  trail,  but  it  seemed  to  me  that  the 
pyramids  could  be  climbed  in  many  other  places.  Gen- 
erally tourists  consider  the  exertion  of  climbing  to  the  top 
sufficiently  tiresome  and  they  neglect  entering  into  the 
interior.  Some  of  them  even  content  themselves  with  a 
survey  of  the  pyramids  from  below.  But  we  wanted  to 
see  also  the  interior,  especially  as  we  had  guides  as  targets 
for  indulging  our  humor. 

There  is  a  small  opening  on  one  side  of  the  Cheops, 
which  is  the  only  entrance  into  the  vast  stone  pile.  So, 
down  we  crept  on  hands  and  feet,  making  the  dark  cavern 
resound  with  joke  and  laughter.  At  first  the  passage 
descends  about  fifty  feet.  The  rock  is  very  slippery  and 
the  notches,  which  must  have  formerly  served  as  a  kind 
of  stairs,  are  almost  completely  worn  away.  Soon  the 
passage  becomes  still  narrower  and  then  leads  upward. 
Only  the  fickle  light  of  the  candle  chases  the  thick  dark- 
ness from  our  immediate  surroundings,  leaving  the 
cavernous  passage  above  us  still  in  brooding  blackness. 
Up  still  we  crawl,  now  and  then  warned  to  climb 
around  some  dark  pit  and  to  guard  against  ramming 
our  heads  against  projecting  rocks  above  us.  The  air  is 

197 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

suffocating  and  the  perspiration  drops  from  our  faces,  as 
we  reach  a  sort  of  offset,  where  one  passage  leads  into 
the  Queen's  chamber  straight  onward,  another  above  our 
heads,  leads  still  farther  upward  into  the  King's  chamber. 
Grasping  some  projections  in  the  rocks,  we  climb  into 
this  second  passage  and  ascend  until  we  must  be  far  above 
the  middle  height  of  the  pyramid. 

Here,  out  of  breath,  we  entered  into  a  large  square 
room.  The  flickering  candle  vainly  battled  against  the 
centuries  of  darkness,  that  have  blackened  the  chiseled 
rocks  of  the  smooth  walls.  A  huge  sarcophagus,  rifled 
of  its  mummy  and  of  its  precious  contents,  was  the  only 
object  in  the  room.  So  these  Egyptian  kings  failed  in 
their  purpose  after  all:  the  greed  and  curiosity  of  suc- 
ceeding generations  have  found  out  their  dried-up 
remains,  though  they  had  been  buried  beneath  a  moun- 
tain of  solid  rock.  Our  voices,  in  thousand  muffled 
echoes,  resounded  like  the  rumbling  of  thunder  over 
their  rifled  tombs,  where  they  had  thought  it  impossible 
for  any  human  being  to  penetrate. 

Vain  calculation  of  the  great  ones  of  the  earth!  While 
the  lowest  slave  mouldered  away  in  peace  in  his  ignoble 
grave,  the  remains  of  these  kings,  snatched  from  their 
tombs,  are  now  the  hideous  objects  of  vain  curiosity  to 
thousands  and  thousands  of  laughing,  chattering  and 
light-headed  visitors  in  the  museums  of  half  the  world. 

We  descended  again  to  the  ledge  of  the  dark  passage 
and  visited  also  the  Queen's  chamber.  This  is  much 

198 


ANCIENT  TOMBS. 


smaller  and  absolutely  bare,  as  probably  both  the  tomb 
and  its  contents  stand  in  some  museum.  The  descent 
on  the  slippery  stones  of  the  passage  is  rather  more  diffi- 
cult than  the  ascent.  Our  guides,  ever  intent  on  an 
extra  bakshish,  lighted  some  bengal  fire,  which  for  a 
moment  flashed  its  brilliant  blue  light  far  up  and  down 
the  mysterious  passages.  One  of  them  climbed  down 
into  one  of  the  pits  and  we  could  then  faintly  hear  him 
chipping  fragments  of  rocks  from  the  tomb  of  an  infant 
king.  His  voice  sounded  as  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth. 
Of  course  he  wanted  to  sell  us  some  of  the  fragments. 
As  the  good  natured  humbugs  had  afforded  us  much 
merriment  we  did  not  stint  our  bakshish,  though  we  had 
paid  for  their  services  as  guides,  when  buying  our  tickets. 
On  the  back  of  a  camel  we  were  carried  around  the 
Sphinx,  which  rears  its  scarred  woman's  face  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  above  the  debris  and  sand  around  it. 
In  fact  all  the  monuments  in  this  neighborhood  are  buried 
about  a  hundred  feet  beneath  the  sand  and  waste,  which 
has  gathered  at  their  base  during  the  centuries  of  their 
existence.  Adjoining  the  Sphinx  is  its  great  temple, 
half  excavated  some  years  ago,  but  fast  disappearing 
again  under  the  sand  eddies.  As  we  returned  on  our 
camel-back  excursion  a  young  Bedouin  joined  us  and 
offered  to  climb  to  the  top  of  the  pyramid  of  Cheops  and 
come  back  in  ten  minutes,  for  a  shilling.  As  it  had 
taken  us  half  an  hour,  we  scarce  would  believe  it.  But 
no  sooner  had  I  promised  the  shilling,  than  he  doffed  his 
199 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

mantle  into  the  hands  of  the  camel-driver  and  nimbly 
began  to  leap  from  rock  to  rock  along  the  corner  nearest 
to  us,  and  after  reaching  the  top,  descended  along  the 
other  corner  of  the  same  side.  He  returned  in  nine  and 
a  half  minutes;  but  he"  was  pale  as  death  and  terror 
shone  in  his  eyes.  He  had  met  a  snake  half  way  which 
these  Arabs  take  for  a  sure  omen  of  death  within  a 
year.  As  we  were  again  bowling  down  the  slope  to  the 
city  in  our  carriage,  we  regaled  ourselves  with  the  lunch, 
that  had  been  provided  for  us  by  the  genial  hotel-keeper. 
Of  course  we  supplemented  it  later  on  at  the  hotel  with 
sundry  other  good  things. 


200 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

IN  KHEDIVIAL  STRONGHOLDS  —  SCOWLING  MERCHANTS 
—  NIGHT  SCENES — MATARIEH  —  PAST  SAND  LA- 
GOONS —  OVER  THE  RIPPLING  WAVES  TO  PALESTINE. 

Afterwards  we  went  by  street-car  to  the  fort  of  Saladin 
Jussuf,  the  citadel  of  which  is  uoo  years  old.  The  way 
to  the  fort  leads  up  a  hill  to  a  high  and  wide  portal  in  the 
frowning  walls  of  the  fortress.  High  watch-towers 
guard  the  corners  of  the  battlemented  walls.  Under  the 
gateway  a  few  shabby  Egyptian  soldiers  stood  on  guard 
and  the  fort  itself  is  garrisoned  by  the  Khedive's  soldiers, 
but  is  officered  by  the  English.  On  an  eminence  within 
the  fort  rises  the  beautiful  mosque  of  Mehemet  Ali.  Its 
facades  are  covered  with  pure  alabaster  from  top  to 
bottom;  but  the  winds  and  weather  of  only  ninety  years 
have  almost  worn  away  the  artistic  carvings  on  the  soft 
material.  On  the  farther  side  of  this  mosque,  there  is  a 
grand  platform,  fenced  in  by  a  marble  balustrade.  As 
it  is  on  the  summit  of  a  high  hill,  we  could  survey  the 
whole  of  Cairo  with  its  thousands  of  minarets,  the  Nile 
sweeping  through  the  sea  of  houses  and  the  great  pyra- 
mids on  the  opposite  bluffs. 

Retracing  our  footsteps  to  the  older  portions  of  the 
fort,  we  found  it  almost  deserted  and  the  grass  growing 
on  the  pavements.  Some  of  the  buildings  date  back  to 
201 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

the  time  of  Omar  and  the  moslem  conqueror  Amru  in  the 
seventh  century.  Brightly  the  afternoon  sun  played  on 
the  dismantled  walls,  where  tufts  of  enterprising  shrub- 
bery were  now  growing  from  the  fissures.  In  this  part 
of  the  fort  is  also  the  old  well  of  Yussuf ,  overtopped  by 
an  ancient  tower.  It  antedates  even  the  coming  of  the 
moslems  into  Egypt  which  was  in  the  year  640.  The 
opening  of  a  well  shaft  yawns  within  the  tower  and  a  spiral 
path  winds  around  the  shaft  to  the  bottom.  Halfway 
down  we  came  upon  the  frame  work  of  a  huge  turbine, 
which  was  built  over  the  abyss  furnishing  the  water  and 
from  which  slaves  formerly  had  to  carry  it  up  the  spiral 
pathway.  As  we  looked  down  over  the  edges,  the  dim 
reflection  of  the  water  assured  us  that  the  well  was  at 
least  not  bottomless.  In  the  sides  along  the  spiral  path 
recesses  were  hewn  that  resembled  burying  places. 
Certainly  a  strange  location  for  a  mouldering  corpse. 
On  one  of  the  grass-grown  streets  of  the  old  fort  we 
met  a  blind  beggar,  seemingly  the  only  Turk  left  on  a 
spot  where  multitudes  had  stood  and  probably  fought 
in  olden  times.  He  began  to  ask  for  alms  from  afar,  as 
he  heard  our  approaching  footsteps;  but  he  was  one  of  the 
few  moslems,  that  thought  it  worth  while  to  say  a  word 
of  thanks  for  the  alms  we  gave  him.  All  the  bakshish 
hunters  and  beggars  of  moslem  faith  grasp  the  preferred 
alms  as  a  matter  of  course  and  with  a  mien,  as  if  they 
suddenly  regretted,  that  they  had  asked  in  such  pityful 
and  urgent  terms.  They  do  not  seem  to  expect  anything 
202 


CAIRO  STREETS. 


from  their  own  countrymen,  but  let  a  giaour  only  come 
within  hailing  distance  and  they  will  immediately  be  on 
the  alert  to  fleece  him.  Not  a  word  of  thanks  will 
escape  their  lips  in  return. 

Coming  back  to  the  gate,  we  were  closely  scrutinized 
by  the  guard;  whatever  they  had  on  their  mind,  they 
said  nothing,  but  merely  prevented  us  from  entering  a 
large  building  nearby,  which  seemed  to  be  an  arsenal. 
At  the  foot  of  the  hill  on  which  the  fort  is  built,  in  a  very 
lively  quarter  of  the  town,  is  the  mosque  begun  by  the 
Khedive  in  honor  of  his  mother.  Its  architecture  is 
peculiar,  in  so  far  as  it  is  an  attempt  at  uniting  the  Greek 
with  the  Moorish  style.  It  was  never  finished,  for  want 
of  funds.  Cairo  is  fast  becoming  one  of  the  great  modern 
cities.  Everywhere  on  the  streets  are  the  encroaching 
signs  of  European  improvements  and  European  manners : 
cafe's  and  beer  gardens,  filled  with  well  dressed  people, 
show  windows  of  European  business  houses,  street-cars, 
cabs  and  carriages,  streets  crowded  with  Europeans. 
All  this  must  have  been  absent  before  the  English  occu- 
pations. 

Not  far  from  the  fort  are  the  old  bazaars  of  Cairo. 
They  seem  to  have  been  formerly  long  rows  of  shops, 
over  which  roofs  have  now  been  built  in  order  to  cover 
the  narrow  streets  between  them.  Here  most  of  the 
peculiar  ways  of  the  Orient  have  been  preserved.  Each 
dusky  merchant  tires  not  to  expose  to  the  view  of  the 
passers-by  as  much  of  his  merchandise  as  he  can  in  front 
203 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

of  his  small  stall.  He  himself,  hovers  around  his  cher- 
ished stock,  always  on  the  alert  for  any  customer.  Woe 
to  the  pocketbook  of  any  stranger  who  is  of  a  curious  or 
prying  disposition  and  has  the  time  and  inclination  to 
examine  the  goods:  he  will  not  so  easily  ecsape  their  elo- 
quent solicitations  and  will  surely  part  with  some  of  his 
good  money  for  useless  trumpery  and  spurious  antiques. 
The  bazaars  were  quite  interesting  even  to  us,  who  had 
seen  so  many  on  our  trip.  I  am  afraid  though,  that 
we  left  some  enemies  behind  in  those  bazaars  of  old 
Cairo.  The  merchants  must  have  noted  us  for  hard- 
hearted giaours  since  no  eloquence  of  theirs  drew  even  a 
piastre.  Two  swarthy  Arabs  at  least,  gave  unequiv- 
ocal signs  of  their  anger.  We  stopped  to  examine  the 
curious  old  weapons  and  trinkets  with  which  their  stall 
abounded.  The  two  shop-keepers  at  once  rushed  forth 
and  began  to  praise  the  antiquity  and  the  artistic  work- 
manship of  their  swords,  daggers,  helmets,  pistols  and  of 
the  collection  of  antique  jewlery  and  brassworks.  But 
their  smirking  friendliness  grew  into  an  angry  scowl, 
when  we  moved  on  without  having  made  a  purchase. 
They  shouted  abuse  after  us  in  their  disappointment  and 
no  doubt  would  have  run  us  through  with  some  of  their 
old  sabres,  if  they  had  dared.  There  are  certain  quarters 
of  these  bazaars  and  of  old  Cairo,  where  moslem  fanati- 
cism may  become  dangerous  to  the  Christian  that  passes 
through.  A  good  many  of  the  shops  in  the  bazaars  were 
closed  on  account  of  the  Beiram  feast. 
204 


CAIRO  BAZAARS. 


Behind  the  bazaars  are  the  Jewish  quarters,  full  of 
dirt,  ragged  children  and  slovenly  men  and  women,  who 
looked  askance  at  strangers,  as  if  they  were  not  used  to 
seeing  any.  An  old  man,  who  was  warden  of  a  syna- 
gogue, did  not  hesitate  to  show  us  all  the  secrets  of  his 
temple.  In  front,  we  were  surprised  to  see  something 
like  a  high-altar.  In  the  top  part  of  it  were  several  doors, 
which  he  opened.  Curiously  enough  we  saw  the  recesses 
filled  with  many  fine  vestments  and  vessels,  which  looked 
much  like  those  in  Catholic  churches.  We  returned  in 
a  roundabout  way  to  the  more  modern  portion  of  the 
city. 

As  evening  fell,  music  resounded  from  every  direction 
and  the  pleasure-seeking  people  gathered  around  the 
cafes  and  saloons,  sitting  out  in  front  of  them  under  the 
porches,  or  at  tables  grouped  on  the  walks.  Following 
their  example  ourselves,  we  could  observe  at  leisure  the 
animated  scenes.  The  principal  streets  were  brilliantly 
illuminated  by  electric  lights.  The  sounds  of  all  the 
European  languages  mingled  with  the  more  unfamiliar 
Turkish  or  Arabic  around  us..  Busily  the  waiters  were 
gliding  to  and  fro  in  their  white  aprons.  All  the  estab- 
lishments of  any  pretension  had  some  kind  of  musical 
attraction  and  the  strains  of  different  kinds  of  music 
reached  the  ear  on  all  sides.  Peddlers  with  all  sorts  of 
small  merchandise  plied  their  trade  among  the  patrons 
of  the  cafes  and  other  establishments.  Several  of  them 
came  also  into  the  Baierischer  Hof,  whither  we  had 
205 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

retired  later  on,  and  where  we  sat  for  a  while  conversing 
with  mine  host  of  the  rotund  face  and  the  hearty  manners. 
He  generally  presided  at  the  table  d'hote  in  regular 
old  style  and  enlivened  the  fare  with  conversation;  the 
guests  were  mostly  Germans,  but  among  them  was  a 
belated  bridal  couple  from  Russia,  who  had  all  sorts  of 
adventures  to  relate  about  Constantinople. 

Our  stay  in  Cairo  was  necessarily  short,  as  we  intended 
to  invade  the  Turkish  territory  at  Jaffa,  pass  or  no  pass, 
on  Wednesday  or  Thursday.  We  should  otherwise  have 
visited  Alexandria  and  made  a  short  tour  up  the  Nile. 
Rising  early  next  morning  we  hailed  a  passing  carriage, 
in  order  to  drive  out  to  Matarieh.  Tradition  mentions 
Matarieh  as  the  place  where  the  holy  family  resided  for 
a  time  during  their  stay  in  Egypt.  We  passed  many 
ruins  on  the  way  out.  The  road  leads  through  the  out- 
skirts of  the  city  across  a  fertile  plain  to  the  extensive 
gardens  of  the  Khedive.  In  a  separate  enclosure  of  these 
gardens,  the  tree  and  the  well,  where  the  blessed  Mother 
and  Child  rested,  are  venerated  by  both  Christians  and 
moslems.  The  tree  which  afforded  shade  to  the  holy 
exiles  from  Palestine,  is  large  and  irregular  in  shape.  It 
bears  upon  it  on  all  sides  the  marks  of  vandal  visitors. 
The  lower  limbs  bave  been  stripped  of  their  leaves  and 
twigs  and  the  trunk  has  been  robbed  of  its  bark,  so  that  I 
wondered,  how  it  could  still  be  alive.  The  lower  part  of 
the  trunk  is  forked  into  two  branches  and  is  oddly  bent, 
so  as  to  form  a  seat,  on  which  no  doubt  our  Blessed  Lady 
206 


MATARIEH. 

rested  with  the  little  Infant.  A  few  steps  from  the  tree, 
the  fountain,  which  welled  forth  from  the  earth  at  her 
bidding,  still  gushes  out  and  irrigates  the  surrounding 
gardens.  The  Khedive  has  erected  a  stone  enclosure 
over  its  opening  in  order  to  regulate  the  flow  of  water. 
Adjoining  is  a  garden  with  a  fine  chapel  in  honor  of  the 
Virgin  Mother,  which  was  given  in  charge  of  the  Jesuits 
by  the  Khedive.  I  was  sorry  I  had  already  broken 
fast,  and  so  could  not  celebrate  mass  on  a  spot  so  in- 
timately connected  with  the  trials  of  the  two  most  blessed 
persons  in  history. 

Some  rods  farther  along  the  main  road,  where  a 
blindfolded  water-buffalo  was  slowly  turning  a  creak- 
ing water-wheel,  stands  a  towering  obelisk.  It  is  one 
of  the  oldest  in  existence,  being  over  four  thousand  years 
old.  The  vast  monolith  of  granite  retains  its  polish 
almost  throughout  its  entire  length;  only  on  one  side 
in  the  middle  some  few  pieces  have  peeled  off.  On  each 
of  its  four  sides  carved  hieroglyphics  give  solitary  mes- 
sage of  the  buried  past.  Images  of  animals  form  the 
greater  portion  of  the  inscriptions.  Fully  ten  feet  of 
soil  and  debris  had  collected  since  the  obelisk  had  been 
erected,  for  we  had  to  descend  a  stairs  in  the  excava- 
tions around  it,  in  order  to  reach  the  rock  foundations 
upon  which  it  rests.  A  half  mile  off  the  road  is  the 
ostrich  farm,  which  guides  and  guide-books  make  much 
of,  but  which  we  did  not  think  worth  while  visiting. 

Lustily  our  driver  plied  his  whip  in  order  to  make 
207 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

sure  of  the  extra  bakshish  promised  him.  These  Orien- 
tals are  pashas,  when  they  hold  the  reins  of  their  horses: 
being  the  mere  slaves  of  despotic  rulers,  they  enjoy  the 
luxury  of  playing  the  despot  toward  their  animals  in 
their  turn.  However,  we  got  back  to  Cairo  so  much 
the  sooner  on  that  account.  It  was  necessary  to  see 
the  American  consul-general,  arrange  for  our  departure 
to  Port  Said  and  attend  to  other  minor  business,  before 
leaving  on  the  noon  train.  The  charges  for  our  stay 
at  Korff's  hotel  were  very  reasonable  and  the  accommo- 
dations are  as  good  as  could  be  desired  in  any  place. 

In  order  to  reach  Port  Said  by  rail  it  was  necessary  to 
go  back  to  Ismailia  and  there  take  the  railroad  along  the 
Suez  canal.  We  had  to  be  satisfied  with  the  same  kind 
of  clumsy  cars,  as  those  which  had  brought  us  here  from 
Ismailia ;  but  from  there  to  Port  Said  the  accommodation 
and  the  train  service  are  much  better.  Almost  during 
the  whole  stretch  to  Port  Said  the  Suez  canal  is  in  sight  on 
the  right  hand.  The  sandy  wastes,  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  are  streaked  with  the  blue  waters  of  lagoons 
and  the  canal  itself  widens  out  in  several  places  into  a 
kind  of  inland  sea.  On  that  account,  though  it  connects 
two  salt  seas,  this  canal  is. to  a  great  extent  a  sweetwater 
canal,  being  fed  by  the  lagoons.  As  the  sun  sank  in  the 
west,  the  beautiful  sunset  scene  of  Laguna  di  Bay  in 
Luzon  was  almost  reproduced.  The  carmine  of  the 
flaky  clouds,  mingling  with  the  greenish-blue  stretches  of 
of  the  western  sky  and  gradually  darkening  toward  the 
208 


ON  THE  THALIA. 


east,  formed,  for  our  delight,  a  magnificent  dissolving 
view,  as  if  to  enhance  the  departure  of  old  Sol  from  his 
diurnal  course.  In  the  gathering  dusk  immense  flocks  of 
white  pelicans  would  occasionally  take  wing  from  the 
bosom  of  the  quiet  lagoons  and,  settling  again  in  some 
other  quarter,  would  disturb  the  placid  reflection  of  the 
western  skies  on  the  lagoons.  On  arriving  at  Port  Said, 
boatmen  rushed  upon  us  from  the  dark  like  a  set  of 
demons  to  seize  our  baggage  and  hurry  us  along  with  it 
to  the  dusky  hulk  of  the  Austrian  Lloyd,  the  Thalia, 
which  swung  at  anchor  in  the  harbor  and  stood  ready 
for  departure  to  Jaffa. 

After  much  running  and  confusion  on  board,  the  pas- 
sengers at  length  found  their  berths,  we  among  the  rest. 
There  was  little  of  the  formality  of  English  boats.  Sup- 
per was  plentiful.  We  found  aboard  six  Canadian 
secular  priests  and  two  Franciscan  friars  from  Paraguay. 
We  were  greatly  surprised  to  see  the  shaggy  and  eccentric 
Clarke,  who  had  made  himself  so  noticeable  on  the  Brit- 
annia, again  our  fellow  passenger  and  in  intimate  con- 
versation with  one  of  the  Canadian  priests.  The  latter 
seemed  much  taken  in  with  him  and  was  in  lively  con- 
versation with  him  at  supper.  The  whole  afterdeck  of 
the  steamer  was  littered  with  baggage  and  passengers  of 
the  third  class.  They  seemed  to  be  a  gleaning  from  all 
nations  and  climes.  Some  of  them  soon  gave  generous 
tribute  to  Neptune  and  the  mingling  of  men,  women  and 
children  on  their  uneasy  couches,  improvised  on  pieces 
209 


O'ER  OCEANS  AND  CONTINENTS. 

of  baggage,  was  somewhat  of  a  distressing  sight  on 
European  water.  For  a  long  time  after  the  Thalia  had 
begun  to  leap  over  the  brisk,  curling  waves  of  the  Medi- 
terranean in  the  hazy  moonlight,  I  stayed  on  deck,  pre- 
ferring one  of  the  benches  to  the  crowded  quarters  of  the 
cabins. 

We  were  now  only  a  short  distance  from  the  wished-for 
goal,  that  had  principally  attracted  us  over  three  fourths 
of  the  earth's  surface.  To-morrow  our  eyes  would 
behold  the  Holy  Land,  the  centre  and  the  birthplace  of  all 
important  history.  How  many  pilgrims  through  the 
centuries  had  preceded  us !  How  many  had  counted  it 
a  privilege  to  die  for  the  possession  of  the  land  sanctified 
by  the  Saviour !  How  many  would  count  it  as  the 
supreme  privilege  of  their  lives  to  visit  the  sacred  scenes ! 
What  are  the  monuments  and  the  scenes  of  other  coun- 
tries in  comparison  to  those  of  the  land  selected  by  God 
for  his  chosen  people  and  as  the  theatre  of  the  grandest 
drama  of  the  universe:  the  life  and  death  of  the  Savior, 
the  resurrection,  the  sending  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  sub- 
lime life  of  the  Virgin  Mother  and  the  founding  of  the 
church  of  God. 

PRACTICAL  HINTS.  Any  one  making  an  extended  trip  in 
foreign  lands  should  obtain  a  passport  of  his  own  country.  It  will 
be  very  useful  in  case  of  accident  or  trouble  with  the  authorities. 
The  Turk  and  the  Russian  are  yet  so  far  back  in  civilization 
as  to  require  a  passport  from  the  strangers,  who  honor  them  with 
a  visit.  For  entering  Turkey,  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  special 
teskere,  or  identification,  from  one  of  the  Turkish  consuls  residing 
210 


PRACTICAL  HINTS. 


outside  of  Turkey.  When  one  has  a  passport  from  his  own  coun- 
try the  teskere  is  merely  a  stamp  and  signature  on  the  back  of  it. 
Without  a  home  passport  it  must  be  a  regular  Turkish  passport 
and  will  cost  much  more  than  the  simple  vise  or  endorsement  of 
the  consul  on  the  American  passport.  This  teskere  must  be 
signed  by  the  authorities  every  time  you  leave  a  town  after  a  stay 
of  even  only  a  few  hours.  It  is  especially  necessary  in  every 
coast  town  at  which  you  wish  to  land. 

End  of  the  II.  Series. 

I.  Series.     Chicago  —  San    Francisco  —  Hawaiians  —  Japan 

China  —  Manila. 
II.  Series.     As  above. 

III.  Series.     Jerusalem  —  Palestine   in    Bedouin  Garb  —  Syria 

and  Islands  of  the  Mediterranean  —  Constantinople  — 
Through  Turkey  —  Greece  —  Corfu  —  Naples. 

IV.  Series.    Rome  —  Through     Northern     Italy  —  Austria  — 

Oberammergau  —  Germany —  Switzerland  —  The  Rhine 
—  Paris  —  London  —  New  York  —  Home  Through  Can- 
ada to  Chicago 


211 


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